How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2021 Volkswagen Arteon?

The verdict: Volkswagen’s near-luxury Arteon hatchback gets some mild updates for 2021, including lightly revised front styling and an upgraded cabin. In our Car Seat Check, we found a lot to like about the 2021 Arteon’s backseat, from its ample legroom to its easy-access Latch anchors.

Does it fit three car seats? No

Take a look at how the Latch system and each car seat scored below in our Car Seat Check of the 2021 Volkswagen Arteon.

Related: Search Car Seat Checks

A Grade

• Latch: The two sets of lower anchors are exposed under hinged plastic covers; they’re a breeze to find and use. The Arteon has two top tether anchors on the outboard seatbacks about halfway down; they have good clearance for easy connection. The middle seat’s top tether anchor is a metal loop that sits directly behind the head restraint; it’s not as well marked as the others and the tether strap must be routed over the head restraint to use it safely, with the head restraint in its downmost position. 
• Infant: This seat was easy to install, and our 5-foot-6-inch front passenger had a comfortable amount of legroom with the seat installed behind them. 
• Rear-facing convertible: Again, this seat went in without any problems, and the front passenger again had ample legroom with the seat installed behind. 
• Forward-facing convertible: We installed this seat in one of the outboard positions, and connection was easy to both the lower anchors and top tether anchor. We did not need to raise the head restraint to accommodate this car seat with its adjustable back in the lowest position. Raising the back of the convertible seat to accommodate a taller child will necessitate raising or removing the head restraint so the car seat can sit flush against the seatback. If caregivers want to install the convertible in the middle spot, they’ll need to ensure the head restraint is lowered and route the top tether strap over the head restraint before connecting to the metal anchor behind it.  

B Grade

• Booster: The Arteon has tall seatbacks and small head restraints, so we did not need to raise the head restraint to fit the booster. The car’s short buckle stalks might be tough for kids to grasp and use independently, however.

C Grade

• None

Grading Scale

A: Plenty of room for the car seat and the child; doesn’t impact driver or front-passenger legroom. Easy to find and connect to Latch and tether anchors. No fit issues involving head restraint or seat contouring. Easy access to the third row.

B: One room, fit or connection issue. Some problems accessing the third row when available.

C: Marginal room plus one fit or connection issue. Difficult to access the third row when available.

D: Insufficient room, plus multiple fit or connection issues.

F: Does not fit or is unsafe.

About Cars.com’s Car Seat Checks

Editors Jennifer Geiger and Jennifer Newman are certified child safety seat installation technicians.

For the Car Seat Check, we use a Chicco KeyFit 30 infant-safety seat, a Graco Contender 65 convertible seat and Graco TurboBooster seat. The front seats are adjusted for a 6-foot driver and a shorter passenger. The three child seats are installed in the second row. The booster seat sits behind the driver’s seat, and the infant and convertible seats are installed behind the front passenger seat.

We also install the forward-facing convertible in the second row’s middle seat with the booster and infant seat in the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit; a child sitting in the booster seat must be able to reach the seat belt buckle. If there’s a third row, we install the booster seat and a forward-facing convertible. Learn more about how we conduct our Car Seat Checks.

Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat, and that Latch anchors have a weight limit of 65 pounds, including the weight of the child and the weight of the seat itself.

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