Citroen Berlingo.

BERLIN: When choosing a new car, the first thing many customers look at is the size of the boot. But with station wagons and SUVs, it's not just size that matters. In fact a few clever design solutions are often much more important.

For example, many new cars allow you to stow the luggage compartment cover in an extra compartment under the loading floor, instead of having to remove it and store it at home. In the BMW X5, there is even an electric solution: the cover whirrs to the bottom of the boot at the touch of a button.

In many station wagons and SUVs you can increase the boot size with sliding and folding seats. While manual mechanisms are often difficult to operate, in the top categories electrical solutions are now standard. In Land Rover’s Discovery model, you can even use an app to expand the trunk from your smartphone while still standing at the furniture store checkout.

While a big hatchback may mean more room, sometimes this can have serious disadvantages when it comes to finding a parking space big enough. Many manufacturers have addressed this problem with a split hatchback: in the Range Rover or the BMW X5, one half swings upwards and the other half downwards. With models like the Peugeot Rifter, the Mercedes V-Class or the BMW Five Touring, you can open the windscreen separately and load the boot easily even when parking is tight.



Meanwhile, larger trunks increase the risk of overloading your car. Opel's new Combo counteracts this with a kind of built-in scale for automatic weight control: LEDs in the cockpit sound the alarm when the load in the back is too heavy.

What about storing camera equipment, fishing rods or a hunting rifle? Admittedly, these are luxury problems. But since the Rolls-Royce Cullinan is a luxury SUV, the manufacturer takes such questions very seriously - especially since money is hardly an issue with its clientele. Its "Recreation Modules" - electric drawers with tailor-made inserts for all kinds of leisure equipment – are available for a high four-digit surcharge.

Anyone who arriving at their car with arms full of bags will appreciate the gesture control for the hatchback. Instead of having to fumble for the key, it’s enough to swivel a foot under the tail or kick in the direction of the car, so that the trunk flap opens electrically.

There are also lots of innovative little storage spaces for long journeys. The new Citroen Berlingo, for example, has flaps in the footwell for stowing items and a kind of high shelf under the roof. While in the front, the storage space functions a bit like the luggage rack in a coach, in the back there’s access from both the boot and the back seat to the compartment in which you can stow jackets or cuddly toys.

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