Volkswagen has unveiled a new stretched saloon set to go on sale before the end of the 2017.
Revealed at the Geneva Motor Show last week, the five-door, five-seat Arteon will sit above the Passat in the VW range to provide another option for any new car buyers considering a BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe or Audi A5 Sportback.
Some people will immediately yawn in your face at the mere mention of the Passat but the Arteon has been designed to combine “the design elements of a classic sports car with the elegance and space of a fastback”.
That’s according to Klaus Bischoff, VW’s head of design, who added: “An avant-garde business-class gran turismo, the Arteon speaks to the heart and the head alike.”
”elegant design and progressive technology”
A statement from VW goes on to describe the Arteon as “a car for people who want a five-door fastback with an accomplished, elegant design and progressive technology”.
These shots certainly suggest a more interesting-looking car than the Passat. The front-end merges the LED headlights, the radiator grille and the bonnet to form a completely fresh face. Meanwhile, the rear is accentuated by the lip sitting on top of the boot lid and the shape of the front headlights is echoed at the rear. We love this goldy-yellow exterior on the R-Line models too – it’s not too dissimilar to that seen on the 4 Series Coupe.
Underpinning the car is the VW Group’s ubiquitous MQB platform that served the base of everything from the VW Golf, Seat Leon, Skoda Superb and many more since its introduction in 2012.
The Arteon will be available as a petrol or diesel from launch. Petrol options comprise a 148bhp 1.5-litre unit with cylinder deactivation technology – lifted from the refreshed Golf – and a pair of two-litre engines with 188bhp or 276bhp. Diesel drivers get to choose from a two-litre unit with 148bhp, 188bhp or 236bhp.
We’d be hopeful of an Arteon R joining the range eventually, but nobody from VW would confirm the existence of any such plans right now. We’ll keep our fingers crossed…
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