Volvo Wagons Could Return Within 5 Years: CEO Courtesy Volvo (Courtesy Volvo)The station wagon may be seeing a few signs of a possible renaissance in the new car market, but you'd be hard-pressed to know it based on what you see in Volvo dealerships. The Swedish brand long defined by its two-box family cars is now without any estates in the States, as the V90 and V60 that stood as the last vanguard against an all-SUV lineup have been sent off into the sunset. That state of affairs doesn't seem likely to be permanent, however, as the carmaker's big boss made clear on Monday that station wagons could be mounting a comeback before long."We are looking into that," Volvo Cars president and CEO Håkan Samuelsson said during a media roundtable at the U.S. launch of the new EX60 when asked by Road & Track about the chance of a station wagon return. He then doubled down: "Not just looking into. I think it's not really too much [to say] that ... I think we will not only have SUVs five years from now."The CEO suggested that the U.S. market may have gone a little too far into becoming SUV-centric, and stressed how both practical and emotional factors could favor station wagons or other more traditional car-shaped vehicles. "I think, for various reasons, we need the lower cars. Air resistance is one," he said, citing how a lower frontal area makes it easier to increase an EV's range. But there's also the matter of the market segment that Joe Pesci might call the yutes. "They say, 'My mother used to have [that car]' when they see an SUV," Samuelsson said. "So maybe there is also some generational shift back to lower cars."Courtesy Volvo (Courtesy Volvo)Still, much as the wagon may be gradually recovering from its coolness nadir, the market has clearly shown that a majority of people in America, in particular, prefer their utility vehicles with a side of ride height. And of course, we also prefer our vehicles on the larger side—but it seems Volvo may be planning on pushing into bigger segments to meet us where we are.AdvertisementAdvertisement"We are, right now, developing a car where it's really the U.S. market in sight, which should be a really big seller here," Samuelsson said. While details were slim, the big boss revealed enough to point to the most likely contender being the previously rumored Cadillac Escalade/Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class rival. "It's a somewhat bigger car," he said, "and it's a family-oriented bigger car, which also needs to be a multi-fuel execution. With such a big car, I think, it would be difficult to go directly only to electric." The CEO suggested that the SUV would be made at Volvo's South Carolina plant, which is currently running under capacity—and from the sound of it, the boss expects it to do well: "With such a car, with the volume we [could] sell in the U.S., it should be no problem to fill the factory."The XC90 that, alongside the EX90, currently occupies the top rung of Volvo’s size ladder.Volvo (Volvo)The president and CEO also mentioned that a range-extending electric vehicle (EREV) system like that of the China-market XC70 would be a good fit for the U.S., even if that particular car was not going to be sold outside its current market anytime soon. "Is that type of powertrain something that will come or could come to the U.S.—yes, definitely. Because we talk about the second generation of plug-in hybrids, and we have always said, we need some bridge solutions for customers who are not yet ready for full electric."Samuelsson didn't mention timing for that particular model, but given the fact that Audi's own Q9 is coming very soon and BMW is reportedly discussing building a bigger SUV of its own—as well as the profits that a proper three-row Volvo SUV could deliver—I wouldn't be shocked if the president and CEO was so keen to discuss the project because it's being fast-tracked. As for a name, well ... how does XC100 sound?You Might Also LikeIf You Can Only Own One Car, Make It One of TheseThese Are the Most Popular Cars by State