Three months before its unveil at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen has sent out a teaser drawing of a new four-door coupe. The new model takes its design cues from the now defunct Passat CC, but with more premium and sportier lines, larger wheels, an updated front fascia and some sharper angles along the shoulder line. Volkswagen promises LED lighting, frameless windows and a large boot space.
The new VW Arteon is the first all-new model to come from the VW brand since the emissions scandal which engulfed the company last year and which lead to group’s restructuring over the last 12 months.
Volkswagen says the Arteon is based on a stretched version of its MQB platform, making it 50mm longer than the CC four-door coupe. It will have a boot that can take up to 1700 liter of luggage when the rear seats are folded down, and more leg room for second-row passengers than the CC.
The Arteon will take on the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe which also go through some changes in its next iteration. The 3 Series GT and 4 Series GC will be merged into a single model, which hopefully will retain the sexy lines of the gran coupe.
Under the hood, the Arteon will get a familiar range of turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines. The most potent petrol unit will produce 276 hp. The Arteon will be the first model to get an all-new seven-speed DSG gearbox, and it will be available with either either front or four-wheel drive, with the latter set-up likely be standard on the 276 hp model.
The Arteon will be built in Germany and is due to go on sale in Europe in the second half of 2017. It will be priced from around €35,000 in Germany, or around £30,000 in the UK, making it nearly £4500 more expensive than the outgoing CC. Europe is the Arteon’s first target market, but it’ll eventually be offered in the Middle East, China and USA too.
[Source: Autocar]
