Station wagons may be a good equivalent of modern CUVs, but I have my doubts about their ability to functionally compete with minivans (at least in the "target"

Station wagons may be a good equivalent of modern CUVs, but I have my doubts about their ability to functionally compete with minivans (at least in the "target" minivan market of moderate to large families). We no longer live in an era where you can just hold infants on your lap while you drive and let your toddlers roam around on the floor. I can't imagine it would be fun for a parent to have to crawl into the backseat of a wagon every time they needed to buckle their child's car seat. (And, of course, if you have more than 2 kids the third row seat is essential since it is basically impossible to fit three car seats next to each other even in a larger vehicle.) Statistically, families have gotten smaller, but car seat regulations have gotten bigger... This is not even mentioning the superiority of sliding doors when it comes to loading/unloading in parking lots, etc.