Auto Talk

Pontiac's new Vibe sport wagon will have athletic styling and a choice of two engines.

A trade journal's banner story startled the auto industry last spring. The report said Ford will phase out half the production of its popular Taurus sedan in coming years to make room for a new mid-size wagon. No one had to read between the lines to find a comment on Americans' changing driving habits.

Once snubbed, wagons are the latest darlings of the auto industry. Designers have given them sportier rooflines and bolder styling, and often higher seats and ground clearance to mimic qualities of sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Marketers call them "crossovers," meaning SUV and sedan hybrids, or in some cases, an SUV and sports coupe.

"They're an evolution of what people want in transportation enjoyment," said Ernest Bastien, Toyota's corporate marketing manager. "They provide the utility people need and cost closer to a passenger car."

During the 1990s, at least eight manufacturers dropped wagons for lack of buyer interest, and only a few wagons prospered. Subaru's Legacy Outback and Forester wagons, especially popular in Colorado, were portrayed as "sport-utility wagons" and buoyed by a clever ad campaign. The constituency for Volvo wagons seemed oblivious to the trend and continued to buy.

Chrysler's successful PT Cruiser is a textbook example of a new-generation wagon. Based on the Dodge Neon sedan and introduced last year, the Cruiser is a small

Toyota plans to build the edgy-looking Toyota Matrix wagon on the tried-and-true Corolla chassis with all-wheel drive as an option.

station wagon with a retro-looking body that clearly stirs buyers. When 2002 model PT production begins this summer, about 30,000 confirmed buyers will already be waiting, according to Chrysler.

Manufacturers with new wagons in the pipeline include Toyota, Pontiac, Mazda, Suzuki, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. Several wagon-like concept cars, including the striking Honda Model X, were introduced with fanfare at major auto shows earlier this year.

Notable new models coming this summer are Lexus's first wagon, the IS300 SportCross, and Mercedes-Benz's compact wagon. Arriving next year will be two small wagons created jointly by General Motors and Toyota, and based on a Toyota sedan chassis. Called the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe, the vehicles will feature cheeky styling and under-$20,000 prices.

Auto marketers say some SUVs are actually more like wagons but classified as light trucks by the government. Among the quasi-SUVs is Toyota's sedan-based Highlander, which has an optional all-wheel-drive system and high roof like an SUV but is wagonlike otherwise.

Despite two successful, high-profile sedans in Volvo's lineup, the company's wagons account for a healthy 35 percent of sales, according to company spokesman Dan Johnston. "Wagons like the Audi A4, Volkswagen Passat and our V70 are beautiful. They have a style all their own, not the styling of previous station wagons," he said.

John Jelinek, a Ford communications manager, said the trend reflects buyers' wishes for alternatives to truck-based SUVs. "Wagons offer 75 to 80 percent of the versatility of an SUV and don't have the truck-like ride. And now fuel economy is a factor, too."

Styling of new wagons also attracts younger buyers, Jelinek said. "A lot of kids 25 and under travel in groups of five or six. A wagon like the (Ford) Focus looks edgy and stylish and not like a traditional station wagon, so they can still take their friends in it." Auto executives say sporty wagons are attractive to young drivers in part because they are not what their parents drive, and many parents are driving SUVs. In previous generations, minivans became the replacement for station wagons, then SUVs replaced minivans. Now, wagons of a bolder design are back again.

How long the trend continues depends considerably on marketing, according to Bastien. "It would be the kiss of death if consumers view them as traditional family wagons." Editor's note: If you're in the market for a new or used vehicle, AAA AutoSource can help.

Pete Szilagyi of Boulder has been an auto writer for Cox Newspapers since 1981.

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