Volkswagen to introduce new sporty-luxury sedan

Volkswagen has always focused on cost effective and practical cars in keeping with what its name means - ‘people’s car’. And to cater to the enthusiast, the company has also offered their cars with the GTI version which brings an additional oomph to their standard cars.

But now the company is training its guns on the luxury segment. This is not the first time that the VW brand has aimed at the upmarket segments. In 2002, it launched the luxury sedan, the Phaeton, which was discontinued in March 2016.

Now, Volkswagen has launched a new flagship model the Arteon in the European market. The Arteon is a luxury five-door sedan to replace the Passat CC. "Cars like this have until now been the domain of premium carmakers," VW brand chief executive Herbert Diess told reporters. "With the Arteon we are trying to gain a foothold in this business." 

The exterior of the Arteon is unlikely that of any other Volkswagen, and it carries a more edgy design language. The vehicle is equipped with full LED day time running lights and a large chrome grille gives it an aggressive look.

The Arteon gets six engines to choose from – three diesels and three petrol. Producing a range of 147bhp in the standard Arteon to 276bhp produced in the R-line variant. The car will be mated to an optional seven-speed DSG gearbox which will be coupled with an all-wheel-drive system.

Today, Volkswagen needs to sell more premium vehicles to bring in higher-margins and fund their strategic shift to electric and self-driving cars. This need is made more urgent because of their struggle to make up for the billions lost as a result of dieselgate, their emission scandal.

The Arteon is Volkswagen’s move to step up their game in luxury and with the R-line variant on offer it will rival against the sporty-luxury cars in the segment. The pricing starts from ₹ 25,21,642 for the base variant. The Arteon competes against the entry level variants of the Audi A5 Sportback, BMW 4-series Gran Coupe and the Mercedes CLS.