I suspect this was to make room for the now-obligatory 3rd row seats, so perhaps if you could get one without this you would gain 6-8" here.
I have not measured, and maybe I will, but it seems that too many vehicles now trying to cram in 3rd row seats have way too high a floor and way to low a ceiling, for any sort of enjoyable 3rd row experience. What I want to measure is my friend's 80's Mercedes wagon, a 212 maybe?, which has the rear facing seats. What I want to compare is the floor where feet would be and the seat itself up to the head room /ceiling. I am willing to bet that a lot of these current "modern" vehicles, with all sorts of potential, do not offer much more, if any more, space to the 3rd row person.
Poor 3rd rows that come to mind I've checked out are the bmw x5, audi q7 both of which actually made me fee anxious, trapped, screwed if not let out by someone else. The Mercedes GL is much better in terms of lengthwise room but not a whole lot better vertically. The lr3 is the best out there aside from some big three "full size" suvs or a custom extended G wagon with cargo area turned into executive seating.
The funniest thing I've seen in a while are the 3rd row in an expensive Lexus LX 570 or it's Land Cruiser sister. Those are so goofy for such a pricey vehicle.