BMW recently confirmed that it's developing a wagon version of the M3. It will arrive in 2021 and it will be the first Touring version of the nameplate. It will be just as powerful as the sedan and likely nearly as quick.

However, the M3 Touring won't be sold in the United States, where wagons are slow sellers and almost all major companies drop them from the lineup. But some enthusiasts aren't willing to give up just yet and started a petition on Change.org, hoping that BMW will change its mind.

What's this petition all about?

Started by a used known as Kian A., the petition asks BMW to

The petition also asks the company to consider a six-speed manual option for the high-performance wagon. "If this ends up reaching anyone at BMW, a 6MT option would be legendary, to say the least, and you know we Americans love our M cars with three pedals. Remember when you gave us three pedals for the V10 powering the E60 M5? That was brave of you, and the few produced are real treasures today. Regardless of transmission, there is a good chunk of us who don't necessarily want an SUV and find a wagon (let alone an M3 wagon) way more appealing."

As of this writing, the petition has been signed by more than 3,100 people. The goal is to reach 5,000 signatures.

The petition comes with tens of comments from people who signed it. Some claim that are ready to place a preorder, while others claim they would sell the BMWs they already own for an M3 Touring.

Will this petition convince BMW?

It's very unlikely that a petition signed by 5,000 people will actually bring the M3 Touring to the United States. Granted, there is some interest in this car, but it's not big enough for BMW to go through all the trouble. And even if the petition gets 5,000 signatures, it doesn't mean that BMW will actually sell 5,000 units of the M3 Touring. Yes, wagons are cool and I'd like to see the M3 Touring come to the U.S. As much as I'd like to see other grocery getters cross the pond to North America.

But the unfortunate truth is that wagons are indeed slow sellers and importing them to the U.S. isn't feasible for most automakers. Why go through all that trouble when you can sell U.S.-made crossovers and make a bigger profit doing that?

Why isn't BMW bringing the M3 Touring to the U.S.?

Well, as I mentioned earlier in this article, it's mostly because the wagon market is so small now that's it's not worth going through all the hassle of crash-testing and homologating such a model for the U.S. market.

The North American wagon market has declined rapidly in the 2000s, with many drivers opting to buy SUVs instead of grocery getters. This trend prompted many carmakers to discontinue wagons in the United States. Some companies kept them, but Audi opted to offer the larger A6 Avant in RS form and Allroad versions with crossover-like ride height of A4 and A6. Mercedes-Benz is also offering the larger E-Class wagon in the U.S., leaving Volvo the only company with a compact wagon available, the V60.