2012 Volkswagen Eos: Up Close
Chief among the changes is the stacked nose that has beschnozzled the rest of the automaker’s lineup. The diving metallic grille that gave the old Eos a sort of droptop-Jetta look is gone. Now there’s a three-slat grille split clearly from the lower air dam by the bumper.
Across VW’s lineup, the corporate grille looks meaner, if a bit less distinctive than before. Indeed, the face could be “interpreted as more masculine,” Eos product planner Brett Scott told me. That should help with the gender mix of Eos buyers, which skew toward women by nearly 2 to 1, Scott said. The Eos is still bound to be more popular among women, but he hopes these styling updates — as well as those on the forthcoming restyled New Beetle – will increase the dude ratio.
It would bring more buyers, men or women, if VW added the LEDs encircling the headlamps that we’ve seen in early press photos. VW says they’re planned only for the European versions of the Eos right now. It’s a shame: The U.S. version has halogen lights with interesting silver louvers arcing beneath, but the LEDs would help distinguish the Eos from simply looking like a droptop version of the new Jetta. Scott said VW is monitoring reactions at this auto show, and it may well end up bringing the LEDs here. Here’s one reporter pulling for it to happen.
The Jetta similarities end on the outside, fortunately. Unlike with VW’s recently redesigned entry-level car, the Eos’ cabin carries over with no apparent cost cutting. Major changes include new climate controls that are similar to the ones in the CC. There’s also the automaker’s new corporate steering wheel and newly optional sun-reflective leather.
Like before, backseat space is tight. Trunk space in the prior Eos was 10.5 cubic feet with the folding hardtop up and 6.6 cubic feet with it down; Scott said those figures remain the same. That’s not bad: The Ford Mustang convertible, a much larger car, has less than 10 cubic feet with the top up or down.
The Eos’ five-piece convertible top stows in about 25 seconds, VW says. Like before, it integrates a moonroof and a sunshade into the top mechanism. But its operation extends the trunklid a foot or so rearward, which means you’ll need to keep an eye out for clearance behind the car.
