Jaguar's station wagon has an uncertain future in the US, report says
The long-roof Jag is a welcome change in an onslaught of SUVs but in the end, it may not matter.
America has a complicated relationship with station wagons. The car nerds of the internet tend to love them, and because we're a loud bunch, once in a while a manufacturer will take a chance and try to sell one here. Inevitably this lasts a couple of years, few people buy them new, and they go away, to the soundtrack of angry neckbeards griping on Twitter.
Unfortunately, this sad story could be playing out with the Jaguar's station wagons (or estates or shooting brakes, whatever you want to call them) in the US. This is in spite of the fact that the current-generation XF Sportbrake makes up 20 percent of XF sales, according to Jaguar.
This news came courtesy of Jaguar's US boss Joe Eberhardt during an interview with The Detroit Bureau that was published earlier in March. It's not only US-market wagons that are on the chopping block either. Eberhardt went on to say that even longtime brand flagships like the XJ sedan and other non-SUV models might be on their way out as the brand tries to stay afloat amid talks of increased tariffs and an uncertain future at home as Brexit looms. Other casualties include diesel engines and manual transmissions.
Jaguar representatives confirmed to Roadshow that although the Sportbrake will live at least through the 2020 model year, it's hard to say just how long beyond that this cat will hunt on our shores. So, while the current-generation Sportbrake isn't exactly a fire-breather in the way that the E63 wagon is (or CTS-V wagon was), it's still a cool car and we should enjoy it while we've got it.
Update, 4:06 p.m.: Jaguar representatives clarified that the XF Sportbrake model wasn't being discontinued, but that wagons and other less popular variants of cars would likely cease to be offered in the US.