Every so often, such-and-such a vehicle is available for sale in another country, but not in Canada. Almost without exception, there will be a good reason why this is the case and, more often than not hinged to market forces.
Canada is a key market for car manufacturers, but perspective is everything. So is location: Nudged up against one of the biggest markets in the world, the United States, can be both a blessing and a curse. If it doesn't seem likely that a model will sell in America, it probably won't be offered in Canada, either.
There are exceptions to this rule, however. And one of those, the brand new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Wagon, which is now on display at the 2016 Canadian International Auto Show. Last month, Mercedes-Benz Canada announced that this iteration of its ubiquitous compact car, which is already sold in Europe and elsewhere, will be available in Canada … and unavailable south of the border.
"We know from experience ... that there is an enduring and stable segment of customers that want a luxury wagon and nothing else," says Chris Goczan, national product manager for Mercedes-Benz Canada. "The U.S. is a different situation all together: Besides much lower demand for wagons proportionally, they are also much lower on overall 4MATIC and diesel demand."
This is not the first time that the Canadian arm of the German company has made this same decision. The first-generation Smart fortwo and Mercedes-Benz B-Class were both sold in Canada, but not in the United States.
The C-Class Wagon model will be the C300d 4MATIC, powered by a turbodiesel four-cylinder that generates 200 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque, and equipped with AWD.
Representatives for Mercedes-Benz USA noted that the C-Class Wagon was not being imported for the time being because of "unique market conditions." There are rumours that it plans to instead introduce a "four-door coupe" variation of the C-Class down the road to compete directly with the BMW 3 Series GT and 4 Series GC.
North and south of the border, Mercedes-Benz sells the larger E 63 S 4MATIC, a high-performance wagon built on its mid-size vehicle platform. In Canada, it offers the E 400 4MATIC wagon (with a 3.0-litre gas V-6); in America, the E350 4MATIC is available (with a less powerful but larger 3.5-litre gas V-6). The decision to offer the C-Class Wagon may have been prompted by the fact that rival BMW has a 3-Series Touring for sale in Canada.
Also on display at the Toronto show were a small slate of new wagons from, appropriately, Volkswagen. There is the Golf Sportwagon and, new for the 2017 model year, the Golf Sportwagen Alltrack.
These two compact wagons feature the same turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder gasoline engine; the Sportwagon is front-wheel drive and the Alltrack comes standard with all-wheel drive. A spokesman said VW has also responded to consumer demand for AWD in the Golf, which will be made available in the near future.
The Alltrack is a striking little wagon with a raised suspension and rugged body cladding, styled and positioned in the tradition of the Audi A4 Allroad.
When manufacturers take this "off-road ready" approach with their vehicles, the line between crossover and wagon gets blurred. For example, the Subaru Crosstrek and Subaru Outback are both referred to as either wagons or crossovers, depending on where the reference is being made. Up until the 2009 model year, Subaru offered a wagon version of the Legacy in Canada; until 2008, the Subaru Forester looked more like a wagon than a crossover.
This evolution and confusion in design may be at least part of the reason why there are fewer wagons on the market than crossovers. Another reason is that crossovers were once saddled with worse fuel economy and driving dynamics compared to sedans and wagons; nowadays, the top crossovers suffer from neither malady.
All of the new station wagons mentioned above certainly qualify as enthusiast cars – but this is primarily because they are now niche vehicles. One manufacturer still pressing the station wagon mandate in Canada is Volvo, which has no fewer than four models in its current line-up: the V70, V60, V60 Cross Country and hot-blooded V60 Polestar. But there's a stack of desirable wagons that aren't available in our country, including the Mazda6 and Jaguar XFR-S.
It's difficult to imagine the station wagon ever being as popular as it once was; for the time being, at least, wagon lovers will have to be content in the knowledge that they're defying convention.
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