They favour practicality with their performance in Europe but here in Ireland we are a bit different. It's really all about our attitude to estate cars. By and large, Irish motorists tend not to like them very much whereas in mainland European markets they are big business.
Estates or 'wagons' can be graceful, even gorgeous to look at. We put the Alfa 159 Sportwagon into that esteemed category. It's following hot on the heels of the January launch here of the 159 saloon whereas three years elapsed between the arrival of the 156 predecessor and the Sportwagon counterpart.
That importance for Fiat Auto and Alfa Romeo is emphasised by the fact that as much as half of all 159 sales are likely to be of the wagon variety.
Compared with the 156 Sportwagon, the 159 offers 445 litres of normal loading space which represents an additional 185 litres.
The saloon's engine line-up is available on Sportwagon which means three petrol and three diesel units. Best known in their Irish application are two Multijet common-rail diesels with 120 and 150bhp and a 1.9 litre 160bhp petrol.