Yahoo Autos Ian Callum Says Jaguar Won't Build XE Wagon, Doesn't Rule Out Other Wagons
This story was last updated at 4/26/16 at 3:30 P.M. ET.
Ian Callum, Jaguar's design chief, is one of our favorite car designers working today, but he's just broken our hearts. He's just told reporters that Jaguar won't build a wagon version of its XE sedan, in favor of the new F-Pace crossover, which is based on the same platform.
Callum broke the sad news at an event for the F-Pace, according to an Automotive News Europe report. Based on a tweet by Callum, Jaguar hasn't ruled out the possibility of introducing a new wagon at some point in the future, perhaps based on the larger XF sedan. Like us, Callum is a confirmed wagon fan, so he's sad for the wagon's demise.
"The [wagon] market is massively shrinking. I'm very sad about it but it's a very difficult market to justify," said Callum, per Automotive News . "The world's biggest wagon market is Germany. And what do Germans buy? They buy German cars."
This is a perfectly logical thing to say, and Jaguar is perfectly logical to make product planning decisions that are good for business. Still, we as car geeks can't help but imagine how great it would be if Jaguar made a Sportbrake version of the downright lovely XE.
Currently, wagons only sell in significant numbers in Europe, and even there, SUVs are quickly becoming the family transportation device of choice. Jaguar is (unfortunately for wagon fans) smart to focus on the F-Pace and potentially other SUVs, rather than sticking with a dying trend.
Representatives for Jaguar declined to confirm or deny whether Jaguar had any plans to build an XF Sportbrake based on the current XF sedan in the future. When I asked about the XF Sportbrake on Twitter, Callum simply favorited my tweet.
Oh well. At least we know Volvo is committed to building more new wagons and selling them in the U.S. Hopefully that plan plays out well for the Swedes.
Updated: This story has been updated to reflect a tweet from Ian Callum, who said he was misquoted in the original Automotive News report.
