Mercedes-Benz Approves CLC Shooting Brake for 2014

I love the roof. Free heat on cold winter days!

Shooting "break" concept?

Wow, that car is just luscious. I wish I was rich.

Almost all real stationwagons are made by luxury brands. There is only one made in the US, and that is the Cadillac CTS wagon.

Why is there such a disconnect between the wants of European car buyers and US car buyers? The Europeans embrace, hatchbacks, wagons, diesels , manual transmissions.... In the US, we still want to buy boat-sized cars.

Yes, things are starting to change in the US (once again). But that will only last until gas prices go down or everyone gets used to the current prices. Then it will be business as usual, and the US carmakers will scramble to build longer, lower, and wider The upcoming gas mileage laws should have some impact on this.

Meanwhile the European makers will keep on keeping on.

"Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche "

Zetsche......that man causes me to throw up a bit in my mouth every time I hear about him. He almost single handedly raped and looted the old Chrysler Corporation for its cash at the merger then starved the American side of development money...then forced Chrysler to use MB quality measures which were terrible. He is a corporate villain of the worst kind.

"Why is there such a disconnect between the wants of European car buyers and US car buyers? "

Come on ed, you know why....its called TAXATION. Sure Europe is a lot smaller than the US but when you are taxed to death the bigger car you buy, you buy smaller ones with smaller engines. Taxation is a powerful weapon for oppressive nany-state governments to use to control their citizens.

Maybe, maybe not.

In Canada there are no taxes based on the size of the car you buy and yet we buy far more small cars then larger ones. (Civics out sell Accords by a wide margin, same for Corollas vs Camry etc).

I think it's a cultural thing rather then a government plot. Americans have been raised from birth to believe bigger is better. It's the way it's been for generations.

You start off with a small cheap car and as your fortunes improve you move up to larger "better" cars. The big three lineups have always been laid out this way.

People happily accept all the shortcomings of larger cars and trucks because they feel they are getting more their money.

Huge corporations have convinced the American people to believe they must spend more and have more to show they are more. Now that's a powerful weapon to control a people.

There are some cultural differences to be sure. To discount the effect that massive taxation has on car choices in Europe is ignoring the truth. And drivers in Canada still buy bigger cars then they do in Europe. Europe is still very class based and if you are stuck in a class and your paycheck is sucked up by huge tax rates, you simply cant afford a bigger car. So after a few generations you choice of a car becomes normal because of the effect taxation has. Why not cut taxes on European car choices and see what people start to buy? High taxes keep people under the heel of government.....they say what kind of car you buy....what kind of food to eat....what kind of medical care to get.....what kind (if any) gun you can own. So people that think there is any kind of superiority of European car buyers choices simply dont understand the reality of the situation.

What is wrong with "moving up"? Ambition and goals are a good thing....not something to be scoffed at. If somebody wants to sit on their ass and smoke in front of a cafe in Paris and laugh at the "ugly American", thats fine.......we are too busy to care.

It used to be that every US car manufacturer had at least one stationwagon in the lineup. There were 2 door and 4 door wagons in fullsize, midsize, and compact models. What happened? The minivan? I guess.

Do they have minivans like ours in Europe? I know they have wagons. A wagon version of, say, an Opel, is probably just as fast, just as nimble, just as fuel efficient as the corresponding Opel sedan. The big difference is that the wagon has a LOT more cargo capacity.

Since most men don't like minivans because being seen in one makes them feel emasculated, wouldn't a stationwagon be a natural compromise between the sedan and a minivan? Surely, a man driving a stationwagon would be much more certain of his manliness than driving the minivan.

Perhaps I am making too much of the emasculation thing. But is there a better reason that wagons went away?

The mini-van and then the SUV killed the full size wagon. I like wagons but anything a wagon can do, a mini-van can do better 90% of the time. SUVs are just tall wagons...they are easier to get in and out of and makes better use of interior room since they sit nice and high. Things change...the wagon is pretty much dead.