The 2022 Volkswagen Arteon is a highly underrated piece of contemporary design. In fact, we'd go so far as to say it's the best-looking car Volkswagen has ever made. But in the US, we don't get access to all its variants. Fortunately, we recently discovered that the high-performance R variant could soon be arriving on our shores. That's all good and well, but there's another, even more attractive model that we want called the Shooting Brake. We've wanted to see it here since we first caught it through the lenses of our spy photographers, and now it seems that the dream could be coming true.

CarBuzz has uncovered patent documents filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that show Volkswagen applying to protect the design of the Arteon Shooting Brake, both in R and regular flavors, on domestic shores. This suggests that the wagon variant of the luxury sedan could soon be offered in US dealerships, but we must point out that this is by no means confirmation that the Shooting Brake is destined for America.

The possibility exists that Volkswagen is simply looking to ensure that no other automakers offer a similarly styled wagon in the US, but this sort of thing is rare, so we're inclined to think that VW USA wants to add the more practical offering to the local lineup.

If it does come to America, the Arteon Shooting Brake will have very few competitors. Wagons are a fast dying breed, and although our market has shown interest in high-performance versions like the BMW M3 Touring and Audi RS6 Avant, more everyday wagons are scarce. Add in the luxury Arteon's slightly premium pricing and it could be a hard sell. We asked Volkswagen whether the Arteon Shooting Brake would be coming to the USA and were simply told, "No plans for this market."

Of course, automakers have been known to withhold details on new product releases, but for now, it seems that our Volks-wagon fantasies lay in tatters. We hold out hope for a change in outlook someday.