In reading a review of the new Mazda 6 today I found a disappointing fact; it won’t be offered as a wagon anymore. A couple of years ago Subaru also stopped offering a wagon option for their sporty sedan, the Legacy, but kept the rough-&-tumble Outback. Honda stopped making the Accord wagon in the US in 1997.
Too bad, because this leaves US consumers no good choices for carrying lots of cargo besides a minivan or an SUV. The “crossover” SUV market has grown enough to push wagons out of business. But every crossover I see has less horizontal cargo space than a mid-size car’s trunk. The vertical space is taller, so there’s more cargo blocking the rear view. This is why they need to equip these vehicles with electronic detection and back-up cameras.