BMW Kills 3 Series Wagon in the U.S., New-Gen Wagon Will Only Be Offered Overseas
A moment of silence for yet another wagon casualty on American soil.
BMW confirmed Monday that it will not sell the redesigned G20 generation of its 3 Series sedan in the station wagon body style to American customers.
The Bavarian automaker will continue to manufacture and market the 3 Series wagon elsewhere, possibly even as an M3 wagon, but not in the United States, nor its neighboring markets of Canada or Mexico.
"BMW of North America has no plans to bring the next generation 3 Series Sports Wagon to the US market," a company spokesperson told CarBuzz. Company spokespersons reaffirmed this to The Drive when contacted, and added that neither Canada nor Mexico would receive the new 3 series wagon.
Wagons have become increasingly unpopular with American consumers over the last three decades, with the minivan, SUV, and crossover successively hammering nails into the body style's coffin. Even the sedans on which they're based make up a decreasing proportion of new vehicle sales every year, with crossovers tempting swaying many buyers that may otherwise end up in a wagon or minivan.
Availability of other niche options on the G20 generation of 3 series is being scaled back as well, especially with regard to manual transmissions. Three-pedal models will be available only as entry-level 318d or 320d diesel models, whose availability stateside will be slim to none. The classic enthusiast's choice will be replaced by a paddle-shifted, eight-speed "sport automatic" on the majority of 3 Series sold, sporting M models included.