SUVs are overrated; Station Wagons are rad

For most people who manage to grow up, practicality becomes somewhat of a personality trait. Looks and speed become merely superficial and lack the substantive impact on the rigors of everyday life. Thus, comes a time in every family man’s and soccer mom’s life- it’s time to buy an SUV and now is prime time to start looking. Over the last couple of weeks, big names including Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mercedes and Audi are adding more ‘exciting’ new SUV models that are just taking up space in an already oversaturated market. Not only that, 5 days ago car news site Chasing Cars Australia released this year’s statistics of the top-10 best-selling cars in Australia and lo and behold, 8 out of 10 of those cars are… (drumroll)… SUVs.

Now here I wonder, “are they even thinking?” when the station wagon has been a pioneer in practical and utilitarian personal transport that is cheaper to run and repair, more environmentally-friendly, and possess greater cargo space? Doesn’t that also mean they surpass the practical hallmarks of SUVs? Yet, said SUVs continue to dominate the car market in Australia and beyond while station wagons get left in the dust of an empty suburban carpark with comparatively abysmal sales and new releases. To this, I reject society and personally declare that station wagons are the ultimate everyday cars. SUVs and their ugly oversized grilles are overrated. Sorry not sorry.

But really, why do people like SUVs so much? Is it the sense of safety and on-road superiority because of the height clearance that is mostly useless for most who drive on flat tarmac? Is it the perception that SUVs have superior cargo space simply because they are ‘big’? Maybe they have no opinions and just follow mindless trends like most pop music listeners. Maybe I am just grasping at straws (help me), but I digress. I understand that consumer perception will always trump the painstaking tedium of research because it is easier to buy and sell whatever is being directly marketed right at your face. I believe that is truly why station wagons are so overlooked, even more so when people look at me like a deer in headlights as if they have never heard mention of ‘station wagons’ in their life. So, to the owners of SUVs, it was never really your fault.

Still salty about it though.