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Car manufacturers still producing wagons have become rare but there are still a handful to choose from thanks to customers in Europe favouring a wagon over a crossover, SUV or four-wheel drive.
Here’s a taste of the wagons locked in – and some that could be – for local showrooms in 2024 and beyond.
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JUMP AHEAD
- Audi A5/S5 Avant
- Audi A6 E-Tron Avant (electric)
- Audi RS6 GT Avant
- BMW i5 M60 xDrive Touring
- Cupra Leon Sportstourer
- Mazda EZ-6 Wagon (electric)
- Nio ET5 Wagon (electric)
- Peugeot e-308 SW (electric)
- Skoda Octavia Wagon
- Skoda Superb Wagon
- Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer (electric)
- Volvo EV60 (electric)
- Zeekr 007 Wagon (electric)
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Audi RS4 Avant pictured
Audi A5/S5 Avant
Love the Audi A4 Avant? Fall in love with the A5 Avant, as the German car maker changes its naming conventions with the new model due for unveiling in the second half of 2024.
The A4 name will be gone – as the even numbers are used on electric Audis, with odd numbers of internal-combustion models – with the A5 name expanding to the sedan and wagon.
The first A5 Avant will use Audi’s PPC (Premium Platform Combustion) underpinnings with a mix of mild hybrid, diesel and plug-in hybrid versions likely for European markets in a package similarly sized to the Skoda Superb (see Skoda entry).
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Audi A6 E-Tron Avant
Audi Sport’s first hybrid, the A6 E-Tron Avant is due to be unveiled in mid-2024 to face off against the Australia-bound BMW i5 M60 xDrive Touring.
Previewed in concept from back in 2022, the A6 E-Tron Avant will go toe-to-toe with the BMW in peak ‘RS’ trim, with a 460kW electric powertrain using the PPE (Premium Platform Electric) architecture it will share with the smaller 2026 A4 E-Tron Avant.
The PPE – already in use on other Audi E-Tron and Porsche Taycan models – brings 800V tech to give super-fast 270kW charging with a battery expected to be around 100kW, with a range of up to 700km.
There’s no word on wagon space dimensions for the pragmatic readers but expect more affordable rear-drive versions offering outputs from 300kW upwards – although the RS stands the highest chance of an Australian appearance.
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Audi RS6 GT Avant
Fancy an old-school fossil-fuelled Leviathan? The RS6 GT is an extreme V8-powered petrol farewell to Audi’s supercar-slaying wagons with a lineage going back to the stunning 1994 RS2 Avant.
Only around 20 RS6 GTs will come here – with Australia’s exact allocation of the 660 made globally still to be confirmed, with pricing also expected to be announced mid-2024.
Packing the same 463kW/850Nm twin-turbo V8 as the high-spec Performance version, the RS6 GT adds manually adjustable coil-over suspension, stiffer anti-roll bars and 10mm lower ride height.
There’s also a retuned centre diff for the quattro all-wheel drive, with bold styling including 22-inch alloys and tri-colour graphics inspired by the Audi 90 Quattro IMSA GTO race car and 2020 RS6 GTO Concept.
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BMW i5 M60 xDrive Touring
BMW will have you on the electric wagon – literally – with the i5 wagon slated for a third-quarter Australian arrival.
Offered only in the top-spec M60 xDrive, it combines up to 1750 litres space when the tri-fold rear seat’s down with a 442kW/820Nm dual-motor electric set-up sending all that space from 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds.
At $219,900 it's $4k more than the M60 xDrive sedan, and its 506km WLTP range is 10km less, but it includes a five-year Chargefox subscription and is – according to BMW – a proper M car. Who said wagons are boring?
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Cupra Leon Sportstourer
A Volkswagen Golf R wagon by another name? With Volkswagen dropping the Golf wagon in mid 2023 – and with the Passat and Arteon wagon also gone – Cupra has come to the party with the Leon Sportstourer.
Due here in mid 2025, the Leon Sportstourer shares not only its platform with Golf and Skoda Octavia Volkswagen Group siblings, but also the 245kW/420Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol seven-speed dual-clutch all-wheel-drive powertrain.
By adding the wagon – alongside several SUVs – Cupra Oz says it’s not chasing volume in what could be a unicorn in 2025 showrooms – a naturally aspirated non-hybrid performance wagon.
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Mazda EZ-6 wagon
Will they or won’t they? When production of the perennial Mazda 6 ended in December 2023, it capped more than a decade in Australian showrooms as a well-made, affordable and space efficient wagon.
The EX-Z unveiled in China – where sedans are still high on shopping lists – is the electric successor to the final SkyActiv 6 in all but name and uses the same rear-drive platform as the CX-60 through to CX-90 SUVs.
How hard would a wagon be of the work is done – with the platform, hybrid powertrains and electrification already in the parts bin – and German customers, say, put their hand up?
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Nio ET5 Wagon
When the Nio ET5 wagon was spied in 2022, no-one in Australia head reason to think it would make it here. Yet if the Chinese car maker achieves its plan to launch in Australia by 2025, we could see the electric-propeller ET5 wagon as part of its local line-up.
That’s still not a sure thing, but the wagon version of the ET5 – a four-door sedan with a wheelbase slightly longer than the current Toyota Camry – was revealed in mid-2023 and has since been confirmed for production in both left-hand and right-hand drive.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves, but the Nio ET5 wagon could give the BMW i5 Touring and A6 E-Tron Avant something to seriously think about.
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Peugeot E-308 SW
With the hatchback version of the E-308 – ‘E’ for electric of course – confirmed for an Australian arrival in mid-2024, the ‘SW’ wagon version has missed out – for now.
Local distributor Inchcape shared the news of the hatchback’s on-sale for later in 2024 – taking the ‘expressions of interest’ page on its website – but says it could add the estate version if demand is there.
The E-308 SW uses the same 115kW electric motor and 50.8kWh battery as the hatch for a 10km shorter WLTP range of 400km but brings a 608L boot – 196 larger than the hatch’s – expandable to 1643L, stretching the space advantage to 320L.
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Skoda Octavia Wagon
An updated Skoda Octavia wagon and hatch have been announced ahead of a planned arrival in Australia late this year.
The facelift brings ‘second-gen’ matrix LED headlights, fresh bumpers and more sustainable cabin material, but little else will change – and little needs to.
Final spec and pricing is yet to be confirmed but the 110kW/250Nm 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol three-pot and eight-speed auto is expected to continue on entry-level Octavia ‘Style’ and mid-spec ‘Sportline’ wagons.
The hot RS version – Australia’s best-selling variant – gets a 15kW bump to 195kW with the same 370Nm of torque, recalibrated ECU software and larger, louder sports exhaust system.
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Skoda Superb Wagon
Confirmed for local showrooms in early 2025 – with pricing and spec details to come – the fourth-gen Superb is the largest wagon in the VW Group.
Despite replacing a near-decade-old model, carries over the same MQB underpinnings – perhaps a sign of reduced demand for wagons.
The new Superb wagon runs the same 2810mm wheelbase as its predecessor but is longer, taller and slightly narrower for an additional 20L of cargo space at 645L expandable to 1920L with the rear seat stowed.
More space but less pace potentially, with a 195kW 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four and seven-speed auto unveiled against the current Australian Superb wagon’s 206kW six-speed auto version.
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Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer
Let’s be honest – the ID.7 wagon is unlikely to make it to Australian showrooms, especially when the hatch version hasn’t been given a local berth.
Yet Volkswagen Oz is yet to put a clear line through the possibility of either body styles, so there is a slither of hope – however false that hope may be…
If it were to land here, the ID.7 Tourer would be the first and only electric wagon wearing a Volkswagen badge.
While its 2971mm wheelbase is 130mm longer than the Superb’s, the ID.7’s 1714L falls short of the Superb’s by 206L but offers 128L more than the hatch version.
Power comes from rear-axle mounted electric motor producing 210kW/545Nm and a WLTP range of 685km from an 86kWh battery – with a 6.5-second 0-100km/h claim.
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2023 Volvo V60 Cross Country
Volvo EV60
Makers of some of the safest – and most desirable – wagons, there could be a new Volvo V60 in Australia in 2026 if the local arm achieves its aim of offering electric-only models in showrooms by then.
That’s four years ahead of HQ in Gothenburg, with the local arm also acknowledging the ‘emotional’ connection the Volvo brand has with wagons – with the Zeekr 009-based EM90 providing its first people-mover.
The Zeekr 007’s advanced architecture – as detailed below – offers comparable dimensions to the current S60 but brings an EV powertrain with up to 860km (CLTC) range. It’s as if it was planned all along…
With Volvo adopting a new naming convention for its electric vehicles, with the likes of the XC40 Recharge becoming the EX40, it points to an EV60 badge for the battery wagon.
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Zeekr-001 pictured
Zeekr 007 Wagon
With estate experts Volvo under the same Geely umbrella, Zeekr will launch in Australia in the second-half of 2024 with the Zeekr 009 electric people-mover and Zeekr X SUV both using the same ‘SEA2’ platform as the Volvo EX30.
Where does a wagon fit? The Zeekr 007 sedan unveiled in mid-2023 is the first vehicle to use the more advanced 800V ‘PMA2+’ electric architecture.
The new tech enables a claimed 500km of a 688 (CTLC) range after a mere 15-minute recharge – and is rumoured to be under the microscope for both a Zeekr and Volvo electric wagon. Watch this space.
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