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Rebirth, or Looming Fizzle? The Station Wagon Had a Pretty Good Year in 2018 In the absolutely superb 1949 war film Twelve O’Clock High, a doctor stationed at a U.S. Army Air Force base in WW2 England uses an interesting comparison when describing a character’s mental breakdown. “Have you ever seen a light bulb burn out? How bright the filament gets right before it breaks?” A similar phenomenon could be at work in a certain vehicle niche, one which gets more press than actual sales warrant. The lowly, reviled, and suddenly revered station wagon, now referred to in terms meant to dispel the stodgy family hauler image of decades past. Never mind that BMW just announced its 3 Series wagon won’t make a return trip from Europe. There’s wagons aplenty these days, and it’s this writer’s firm belief that you’ll never have a better change to bring home a competent non-light truck cargo hauler. It’s now or never. While wagon variants allow automakers to rack up additional sales of a given nameplate, the wagon community remains a small one. Loyal and passionate, but small. And what room there is for growth depends on your level of optimism. As Bloomberg notes, 2018 was a great year for wagon sales, simply because consumers suddenly found themselves with choice. Buick has the new Regal TourX, Jaguar has the new XF Sportbrake, Volvo has the tony V90 and V60, Mercedes-Benz has the dignified E 450 4Matic wagon and disgruntled AMG E63 S wagon, Audi has the A4 Allroad, and Volkswagen will still gladly sell you a modest Golf SportWagen. All of this choice resulted in a bigger niche than years past. Some 212,000 wagons left U.S. dealer lots in 2018, representing a 29 percent sales increase compared to five years earlier. Still, wagons amounted to less than 2 percent of the new vehicle market last year. That’s plug-in car territory. This group of buyers, described by Buick marketing director Sam Russell as “almost violently opposed to being mainstream,” doesn’t want to be seen driving an anonymous crossover. And let’s face it, it’s easier to sculpt a sexy wagon than a high-riding, bulbous crossover. Thing is, though, wagons sales are a slim wedge of the overall volume of a particular nameplate. As sedan sales falter, wagons, despite their snob appeal, won’t pick up enough of the slack. All a wagon can do is delay a model’s discontinuation, if we’re to assume today’s market shift continues uninterrupted. If sedans disappear from our streets, so too will wagons, despite wagons being a happy middle ground between sedans and crossovers. A sad situation, if the worst-case scenario comes to pass. While Bloomberg reports Buick’s TourX sales “increased steadily” over the past 12 months, Volvo’s gorgeous V90 is now available by custom order only, and Jaguar’s XF Sportbrake, while sultry, has to contend with the fact that no one’s interested in buying Jaguar cars these days. Even the brand’s crossovers can’t keep sales in the black. Despite the recent uptick in wagon interest and availability, it’s hard not to see this phenomenon as a tired light bulb valiantly burning its way towards destruction.

Has anyone noticed that all the mid-sized Korean and Japanese sedans no longer seem to be available. Camry, Accord, Teana, Legacy, Sonata, Optima are no longer available in showrooms. They're mostly not even listed for sale either by ADs in SG carmart . The Mazda 6 seems to be the only mid-sized Japanese sedan that's available now. Anyone know if, and when, any of these cars will be back in our showrooms soon? 2018 models?

Hi everyone! We are a group of NUS Business students doing a research project on consumers' behavior in automobile purchases. Your participation in this survey will definitely help in creating a better purchasing experience for yourself in the near future! Here's the link: https://goo.gl/forms/zBjSBbHlCL7N617d2 Thanks all for helping! :-)

I'm looking to get together a list of 5-door sedans, with liftbacks - that is to say, with boots that are hinged at the rear roof for a larger load-bay. I'm looking to find all these kinds of cars as they're my preferred body style. They don't have to be fastbacks, explicitly, but a traditional sedan with a boot hinged below the rear window doesn't count. These are what I've found so far available (or, in Skoda's case, were available) and reasonably current: Audi A5 Sportback A7 Sportback BMW 3-Series GT (Gran Turismo) 5-Series GT (Gran Turismo) 4-Series GranCoupe 6-Series GranCoupe X4 X6 Ford Mondeo (hatchback) Honda Insight Mazda Atenza/6 Hatchback (N/A here actually...) Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class Coupe (okay, it's not out yet but it seems like it's around the corner) Porsche Panamera Skoda Octavia Superb Toyota Prius Can anyone contribute more to this list? There don't seem to be very many, especially from the east.

And it look like what i see everyday in the toilet bowl

Hello MCFers, My friend fimaly members increased, he owns one sedan, now hesitating to change sedan to 7 seater MPV or buy another 2nd Sedan, please advise

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...3d98c388b04dfe6 The base model, which sells for $49,900 after a federal tax credit, can go 160 miles on one charge. Despite the high spirits during Friday's ceremony, the debut of the Model S is a critical moment for the fledgling car company. Tesla has sold 2,150 Roadsters since 2008. The company is the brainchild of PayPal billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Tesla has always been considered a long shot to survive in the car business, but Musk, who is the chairman, CEO and product architect, spoke optimistically about the future, and of electric cars. "It's about breaking a spell," he said. "The world has been under this illusion that electric cars cannot be as good as gasoline cars. It's showing that an electric car can in fact be the best car in the world." Analysts and auto industry insiders have scoffed at the idea that a new car company could be created from scratch and built in a state with high operating costs like California. The price tag on the Model S is also expected to limit sales, said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Automotive. Nissan has sold just under 30,000 all-electric Nissan Leaf hatchbacks since they went on sale at the end of 2010, but the Leaf is little more than half the price of a Model S.

What happen to this luxury segment?? Trying to squeeze more profits?? Is still worth the money?? Luxury cars failed crush test

I was toying with the idea of downsizing from an MPV to a large sedan. I have been looking around and have not really found a sedan suitable for 5 adults. It seems that they are always designed for 4 or 4.5. Anyone knows why?

The award goes to Ford Fusion (not available in sg). But wat's surprising is the relative subpar dependability of the passat n some japanese models....any comments fr owners of these cars?

We won't blame you for reading this headline and thinking, "Oh great, another Toyota recall." After all, the Japanese automaker dominated headlines in 2010 by recalling every single model in its then-current product portfolio, including the massive sticky pedal and unintended acceleration recalls that took place in the first half of last year. Now, Toyota has issued a voluntary recall on about 245,000 Lexus sedans here in the United States and an additional 1.5 million vehicles around the world. Here in the U.S., the 2006-2007 Lexus GS 300 and GS 350, 2006-2009 Lexus IS 250 and 2006-2008 Lexus IS 350 sedans are being recalled due to faulty installation of fuel pressure sensors. If this sensor has not been fastened tightly enough, fuel has the potential to leak between the gasket that connects it to the fuel delivery pipes. Including these North American vehicles, the fuel sensor recall affects 354,524 vehicles around the world, with Automotive News citing that the Toyota Crown and Mark X sedans are being recalled in the automaker's home market. Toyota's other global recall involves faulty fuel pipes and fuel check valves, though none of the 1.34 million vehicles affected by this one are in North America. In Japan, the RAV4 crossover, Voxy and Noah minivans are being recalled, as well as the Avensis sedan and wagon sold in Europe. Sources: Toyota, Automotive News

Recently have been seeing the new Vios on the road? Noticed something Vios: Camry size S Altis: Camry size M Camry: Size L that is They look very similar except for the size... Anyone share the same sentiments or izzit only me or toyota designers are sleeping?

BMW M3, Merc C63 AMG, Audi RS4/5/6, Lexus IS-F, EVO X....wooow

By Carl Freire - Feb 9, 2007 AP Honda Motor Co. plans to recall 45,335 Civic Hybrid sedans worldwide to repair an electrical defect that could stop the cars' engines, a company spokeswoman said Friday. Japan's No. 2 automaker plans to recall 7,219 of the vehicles sold domestically and another 38,116 sold overseas, mostly in the U.S., a Honda spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, citing company policy. Honda learned about the defective voltage converters -- which could cause a short circuit that would stop the engine and prevent it from restarting -- from overseas reports, the company said in documents filed Thursday with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Honda has received no reports of accidents related to the defect, the documents said. The affected vehicles were manufactured between September 2005 and September 2006, they said. In Japan, Honda plans to notify affected vehicles' owners by mail and to repair the defective parts, the spokeswoman said. The overseas recalls and repairs will be handled according to local laws, she said, without giving further details. Honda also plans to recall 72,597 Elysion minivans due to defective sliding door locks, according to separate documents filed Thursday with the ministry. The model is sold only in Japan, the Honda spokeswoman said. Honda has received 27 complaints about the locks, but no reports of related accidents, the documents said. The company plans to replace the defective locks on affected vehicles, manufactured between April 2004 and November 2006, they said.