The Forgotten Station Wagons Of India

Station wagons are really popular in the European markets but they never sold as many in the Indian market

While station wagons might seem to be the most practical body style for the Indian market owing to the enhanced sense of space they offer over sedans and hatchbacks, these cars never clicked with the Indian audience. The primary reasons for their failure in India were their high asking price and running costs.

Currently, the Indian car market isn’t having a single station wagon for sale. But in the decades gone by, we have had a fair share of some of the best station wagons. Following are all the station wagon models which debuted in India but unfortunately never became a hit despite being ideal for the Indian conditions.

Fiat Padmini Safari

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Hindustan Motors tried to increase sales by bringing the Ambassador Estate

The Fiat Padmini Safari was a station wagon version of the Premier Padmini sedan, which itself was essentially a licensed version of the Fiat 1100 Delight. The Fiat Padmini Safari was not manufactured wholly at Premier’s manufacturing facility in Kurla.

A few drive-away chassis of the vehicles got transported to Mumbai-based Starline Motors, which used to build custom bodies on those chassis. Since these vehicles were not manufactured in the plant and produced for small-scale production at a local workshop, they suffered from quality issues.

The Fiat Padmini Safari retained the 1.1-litre inline-four petrol engine from the Padmini sedan. It was paired with a 4-speed manual gearbox and put up 47 bhp of power and 71 Nm of torque.

Hindustan Ambassador Estate

The legendary Hindustan Ambassador was the first-ever car that was manufactured locally on Indian soil. The Ambassador remained in the production for almost 56 years, giving it a cult status.

In its entire history, the Ambassador came in different iterations, and one of them was a quirky-looking station wagon. The Hindustan Ambassador Estate was one of the first-ever station wagons made in India, which had an odd-looking closed compartment attached to its back. It shared its 1.5-litre 55 bhp petrol engine with the regular Ambassador and was short-lived.

Rover Montego Estate

One of the least popular cars in the history of India, the Rover Montego Estate, was essentially a British car that was on sale in India as an imported vehicle in collaboration with India-based Sipani Automobiles.

The car came to India in limited numbers during the 1990s. Around 287 units of Rover Montego Estate got sold in India, which gained it the status of an unsuccessful car in the country. The Indian versions of the Rover Montego Estate came with a 2.0-litre inline-four petrol engine, which claimed 81 bhp of maximum power.

Tata Estate

Tata, Maruti Suzuki and even foreign manufacturers lined-up station wagons in India

Based on a Mercedes Benz station wagon, the Tata Estate was one of the first passenger cars from Tata Motors, a prominent player in the commercial vehicle market and a relatively new player in the passenger vehicle category.

The Estate was Tata Motors’ first take on station wagons, which came in 1992 with features like power steering, power windows and a tachometer, which were considered a novelty in the early nineties. It was solely available with a 1.9-litre four-cylinder diesel engine sourced from Peugeot, which made 68 PS of power and 118 Nm of torque and came mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. It remained in production till 2000.

Opel Corsa Swing

Opel Corsa sedan based Corsa Swing was one of the offerings

The Opel Corsa Swing was one of the handfuls of products that was launched by Opel in India during its brief stint in the country while it was a part of General Motors. Based on the Corsa sedan, the Opel Corsa Swing was one of the last products sold by Opel in India through General Motors. The Corsa Swing shared the 1.6-litre petrol engine with the 5-speed manual gearbox with the Corsa sedan and sold in very limited numbers. It was one of the first mass-market cars to come with airbags as standard in India.

Skoda Octavia Combi

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After Skoda tasted success with its debut product in India, the first-generation Octavia sedan, it expanded its lineup in India with a new version, the Skoda Octavia Combi. It was the station wagon version of the Octavia sedan, with its large boot compartment at the back as its highlighted aspect. The Skoda Octavia Combin was available in two versions in India – the L&K and vRS.

While the L&K variant was on sale with a 1.9-litre diesel engine, the vRS got a punchy 1.8-litre turbo-petrol engine. Both the versions of the Skoda Octavia Combi found very limited takers in India.

Maruti Suzuki Baleno Altura

The Maruti Suzuki Baleno Altura remains the only station wagon introduced by Maruti Suzuki in India till now. The Maruti Suzuki Baleno Altura came to India in the early years of the 21st century but soon vanished after a brief stint in India, as the vehicle found negligible takers. One of the biggest duds from Maruti Suzuki, the Baleno Altura, was based on the regular Baleno sedan and shared its 1.6-litre four-cylinder 94 bhp petrol engine with the Baleno sedan.

Tata Indigo Marina

Tata got the Indigo Marina to the market as well

After Tata Motors affirmed its presence in the compact car category with the Indica hatchback and the Indigo sedan, the Indian carmaker introduced a third vehicle on the same platform – a station wagon this time.

The Tata Indigo Marina was the station wagon version of the Indigo sedan, with a comprehensively restyled rear profile and enhanced luggage compartment. Apart from the revised rear profile, the Indigo Marina shared everything with the Indigo sedan, including the choice of 1.4-litre petrol and diesel engines.

Fiat Sienna Weekend

However, none of these station wagons became popular

After a lukewarm response to its first-ever sedan in the face of Sienna, Fiat tried to re-present the car like a station wagon as Fiat Sienna Weekend, which was the station wagon version of the former.

The Fiat Sienna Weekend saw its positioning as a more practical offering over the Sienna sedan, but it bombed the Indian car market. In the limited period when it was on sale, the Fiat Sienna Weekend was made available with two engine options – 1.5-litre petrol and 1.7-litre diesel, both of which came with a standard 5-speed manual gearbox.

Fiat Palio Adventure

After the failure of Sienna Weekend, Fiat tried to capitalize on the station wagon body style once again with the Palio Adventure. This station wagon shared its platform with a sporty hatchback – the highly-praised but low-selling Palio 1.6.

The Palio Adventure had a stretched body over the Palio and retained the powerful 1.6-litre 100 bhp petrol engine with a 5-speed manual gearbox from the Palio 1.6. It was the last ever effort by Fiat on the station wagon body style.

Q&A

Why are station wagons not popular in India?
Station Wagons were very expensive to own and maintain when they came to India.

What is the difference between wagon and SUV?
A station wagon is based on a hatchback and may not offer 4X4 while an SUV always offer 4X4 looks very different.