As SUVs and crossovers continue to take over the U.S. car market, it’s been revealed that ‘rugged’ wagons are also selling quite well across the country, Car and Driver reports.



A host of carmakers sell rugged and lifted versions of their wagons locally, typically adorning them with new body cladding, bumping up the ride height, and fitting all-wheel drive as standard. While the mechanical changes over traditional wagons are minor, these vehicles are proving to be a success, outselling normal wagons by more than nine to one.

Related: Subaru Outback Owns US Wagon Market With Astounding 85.7 Percent Share

It shouldn’t surprise many that Subaru dominates this market in the U.S., selling no less than 180,000 examples of the Outback last year. Where things start to get really interesting is when you start looking at sales figures comparing conventional wagons to rugged variants sold by the same company.

For example, Volvo sold over 2,800 of its V60 and V90 Cross Country models, compared to the fewer than 1,400 normal V60 and V90 wagons. Similarly, Volkswagen sold more than 6,200 Golf Alltracks compared to less than 5,000 Golf Sportwagens. Other popular rugged wagons on sale include the Buick Regal TourX that shifted 5,000 examples and the 1,300 A4 Allroads that Audi sold.

Tallied together, more than 196,500 examples of the 216,000 wagons sold across the United States last year were so-called “rugged” models. Admittedly, the Subaru Outback accounts for nearly 84 per cent of the market on its own, but you get the idea.

While these results are intriguing, it’s worth remembering that even these beefy wagons are being easily outsold by SUVs and trucks. In fact, more than 12 million SUVs and trucks were sold stateside in 2019.