I recently returned from Europe, and after spending some time examining the cars (which is what I spend most vacations doing anyway), I noticed that the types or cars people have are very different from what we have here in North America. In London you will find the wealthy aristocrats with their luxury sedans, in Paris you notice that every car in the entire city is a small hatchback (give or take a few), and if you find yourself in most other places in Europe you will notice the SUV is a lot less popular and the station wagon to be extremely popular.

In North America the SUV (or Sport-Utility-Vehicle) has stolen the majority of the station wagon sales. That’s why people buy the BMW X3 instead of the 3-Series Wagon, or the Subaru Forester over the Legacy Wagon. That’s why station wagons are so rare to come by in this part of the world. As it is, we only have the option of two or three reasonably-priced wagons. The Volkswagen Golf, the Toyota Prius V, and the Subaru Outback. Very rarely do we even see those anymore.

In Europe the station wagon is much more prominent. You can walk into any car dealership and they will have at least one station wagon they can sell you. From international brands like Chevrolet, Ford, and Mazda, to European brands such as Renault, Peugeot, and Skoda. They are all able to give you sleek, stylish, and cheap cars that are fuel efficient and easy to park, but still have enough room to transport your family and whatever comes along with it. An advantage to having such a large demand for station wagons is it means car makers have enough money and enough of a customer base to make some awesome sleeper wagons. What car guy doesn’t dream of driving an Audi RS6 wagon, or a BMW M5 wagon up and down the winding mountain roads of the Alps? These are things we miss out on here in North America.

Personally, I think North Americans should adapt to the ways of the Europeans. With gas prices rising, you need something big enough for your family, fuel efficient enough to save you some money, and in certain cases something luxurious. If you wanted the first and last ones today you’d go out and buy a Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie Limited or a Ford F450 Platinum, but those aren’t fuel efficient. A European would buy a BMW 530d wagon, or a Mercedes-Benz E300 Bluetec Wagon. Something just as luxurious, just as spacious, but much more fuel efficient.

If European car makers would change the lineup of cars that they send stateside, they’d be able to promote fuel efficiency by giving us interesting cars to switch to. Personally, I wouldn’t switch to a diesel Chevrolet, I’d much rather drive a diesel Renault or Skoda.