News that Volvo will revive sales of estate cars in the UK after cancelling them last year has gained huge traction both inside and outside the automotive media, possibly driven by those who still prefer estates to the now-dominant SUV bodystyle.
Volvo told Autocar it had brought back the V60 and V90 estates “due to the resurgence for our estate products in recent months”, but what is the full picture of the estate car market in the UK?
Firstly, estate cars have indeed made a resurgence in the UK this year, with sales in the UK rising 16% in the first four months of the year to 25,311, according to figures from market researcher Dataforce.
That’s nearly double the rise of the overall car market, which grew 8.4% in the same period.
The UK’s increased appetite for estates has increased slightly faster than demand for the bodystyle across the rest of Europe, where it grew 15%.
The UK’s best-selling estate in the first four months was the Derby-built Toyota Corolla Touring Sports, at 2971 units – enough to take a 12% share of the market.
The Corolla edged out the second-placed Skoda Octavia estate, the car has that consistently dominated the overall European estate charts and continues to do so this year, according to Dataforce.
Top estate models in the UK, Jan-April (Dataforce figures)
The fear for estate aficionados has been that the move to EVs would freeze out the bodystyle for good, as brands simplify their ranges to help cut soaring development costs.
For a while, the MG 5 was the only electric estate available, but we now have EV versions of the Vauxhall Astra and Peugeot 308 estates plus the imminent Volkswagen ID 7 Tourer. European market leader Skoda has promised an EV estate while MG has said it will make a longer version of its successful MG 4 to replace the ageing MG 5.
Add your comment