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Wagons make a bit of a comeback, with new models, sales on the rise

Consider this an official invitation to hop on the wagon bandwagon. There's still tons of room because, well, it's a wagon (and market share is still extremely small). But according to new data, the segment is growing. According to a report from Bloomberg, using data from Edmunds.com, roughly 211,600 Americans purchased wagons in 2018. That is technically down from the 237,600 sold in 2017, but wagon sales in the U.S. are up 29 percent from where they were five years ago. It's also the third year in a row that wagon sales broke the 200,000 mark. The sales trends have been somewhat representative of the availability of wagons. New models have debuted during the past 5 years and therefore offer more opportunity at more brands to buy wagons. In addition to more modest cars such as the Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen, several luxury and performance brands are offering wagons today, such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Jaguar, Volvo and Buick. (Bloomberg's headlines make the point that "crossovers are for the Kardashians," and wagons are just, well, classier.) This uptick in brand-name availability, as well as extremely well-executed design on most of the wagons currently available, has helped increase the segment's desirability. That, and its ability to better accomplish the same tasks at hand while standing out from the crossover and SUV crowd. Still, the posted numbers represent a small fraction of the total vehicles sold. According to the data, wagons only held a 1.4 percent market share in 2017, the segment's best recent year. Wagons hold a steadfast place in America's past, and they're writing an interesting new story. With the downturn in traditional cars, they may continue to create an unexpected narrative. Related Video: News Source: Bloomberg, Edmunds Audi BMW Buick Volkswagen Volvo Wagon station wagon

BMW ReachNow just became a full-fledged mobility services program

Since officially opening its doors with 370 cars in Seattle in April, BMW's ReachNow has made little expansions. It stared operations in Portland and grew to 760 cars. Today, it also announced that Brooklyn would join the list, and that the number of available cars to share would climb to 1,030. But the big news is that the scope of ReachNow's efforts has just grown tremendously. Instead of just the original, short-term car rental option ReachNow will now be able to do all sorts of things. These include: ReachNow Ride: Similar to Lyft and Uber, this is a ride-hailing program where someone drives you to your destination. You can request a driver and set personal experience options, like setting a radio station or requesting silence for the ride. A pilot program will start in Seattle. ReachNow Fleet Solutions: BMW's version of Zipcar, but only for residents of specific apartment buildings. This is a station-based, dedicated car sharing plan and the first pilot will be in Manhattan, starting in a few weeks. It will be based at The Solaire in lower Manhattan and will use plug-in i3s exclusively. ReachNow Reserve: Remember good, old-fashioned rental cars? This is like that, but a bit fancier. BMW's longer-term rental service will let you schedule a particular model, which will then be delivered to you. You can keep it as long as you like, but we assume that if you're thinking of not giving it back for a few months, you're doing it wrong. ReachNow Share: BMW saw what Turo (nee Relay Rides) was doing and figured it was a good idea. With this program, you will be able to rent out your own 2016 or 2017 Mini for a minimum of two days, making you a bit of cash from your car when you're not using it. This rolls out in December in Seattle, and ReachNow CEO Steve Banfield said that it may expand to other models in the future. At #AutoMobilityLA, @turo says it has 2 million activated users and 120,000 listed vehicles. Claims the average monthly earning is $536* pic.twitter.com/gWHdrvPRWV — AutoblogGreen (@AutoblogGreen) November 15, 2016 ReachNow currently have 32,000 members, and all of these services are available to them through the ReachNow app. For a "limited time," new users can save the $39 registration fee as part of an introductory offer, and per-minute charges for the regular ReachNow service are 41 cents a minute instead of 49. At #AutoMobilityLA , @reachnow announces third city for @BMW's car sharing services: Brooklyn.

European new car sales drop nearly 8% in first half of 2019

PARIS — European car sales dropped 7.9% in June, led by bigger declines for Nissan, Volvo and Fiat Chrysler (FCA), according to industry data published on Wednesday. Registrations fell to 1.49 million cars last month from 1.62 million a year earlier across the European Union and EFTA countries, the Brussels-based Association of European Carmakers said in a statement. Calendar effects resulted in two fewer sales days in most markets, accentuating the decline. Registrations for the first half closed 3.1% lower, ACEA said. For European carmakers, weakening demand at home compounds the pressure from a sharper contraction in China and emerging markets that may yet bring more profit warnings. NissanÂ’s aging model lineup contributed to a 26.6% June sales slump while Volvo Cars, owned by ChinaÂ’s Geely, saw deliveries tumble 21.7%. Registrations also fell 13.5% last month at FCA, 10.1% at BMW, 9.6% at Volkswagen Group and 8.2% for both Mercedes parent Daimler and FranceÂ’s PSA Group. The Peugeot makerÂ’s domestic rival Renault suffered less, posting a 3.9% decline. By the Numbers BMW Chrysler Fiat Nissan Volkswagen Volvo Peugeot Renault