No hatchbacks from Audi or BMW ?

What on earth does the OP think the A3 and 1-series are ?

RT, is the Insignia going to grow again?

Too many drivers can't cope with the size of vehicles they already own, perish the thought they're getting bigger again.

Depends how you define it

The current Insignia is smaller internally that the Vectra-C that preceeded it - but larger - apart from the Vectra-C which had a whopping 4" longer wheelbase than it's saloon/hatch counterparts.

The new Insignia is apparently much more space efficient and increases the wheelbase - but that may be a smokescreen to reintroduce a model above Insignia.

The nissan pulsar has more leg room inside than your current primera.

There are definitely fewer 'big boot' hatchbacks than there were. This is a shame because this was what made them really good cars for carrying pushchairs, kids bikes etc.

I think it's mostly a fashion thing, which has been for the back of a D segment (i.e. Golf etc) hatchback to become more vertical, which is a shame. This has probably come about from 'focus groups' where city dwellers state they value ease of parking over good boot space. Most of the time I only use the bottom two feet of height in a boot so I prefer something with a large boot floor rather than a high boot.

There are a few around you've missed. The Octavia is probably best of the bunch, but the current Honda Civic is nearly as big and has a proper long boot.

My pet hate on this is saloon cars which look like a big hatchback. The worst for this at the moment is the Mazda 6, which I had assumed was a hatch until I got one as a hire car for work. I had a smallish electrical equipment cabinet to carry (would have fitted in a Fiesta with the seats down) and I couldn't get it in the car either through the rear doors or the stupid letterbox they called the boot lid.

I'd be interested to know what it is you want fromn a hatchback that you can't get in a Mazda 6 Estate (Tourer, I think they call it). It's one of the better-looking estates, certainly not van-like.

Interestingly it is shorter in length than the saloon.

4805mm vs 4870.

"'d be interested to know what it is you want fromn a hatchback that you can't get in a Mazda 6 Estate "

I don't like the look of Estate cars.

Yes, many larger ones are now going back to saloons (probably to rival the German marques to make them 'upmarket' [read expensive to buy]), but again, as other have said, MPVs and crossover vehicles have more than filled the void, and are often more practical for families and useful for transporting granny and grandad around as they have higher up seats making it easier to get in/out of the car.

I also think manufacturers just don't sell the big cars in sufficient numbers to justify having so many (costly) variants in body shape, plus big cars are difficult to park (spaces haven't grown, but car sizes have) and thus are less popular apart from those with money.

I would say that apart from Western Europe, large hatchbacks have never generally been popular and saloons were always favoured elsewhere (or estates).

With the demise of traditional larger mainstream cars, the manufacturers as you say will not produce the poorest selling style of an already dying type of car.

We now have to take or leave the saloons that they always sold more of globally.