We got to take a closer look at the new 2019 Volkswagen Arteon after its North American debut at the 2018 Chicago Auto Show.
Transcript
An all new model called the Arteon replaces the CC as Volkswagen's premium coupe like sedan, positioned above the Passat.
And it's no longer technically a sedan now, whereas the CC had a conventional trunk back here, the Arteon, actually tucks a lift gate back here instead. As far as changes go, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Very fresh styling up front here, a lot going on here with the grill, kind of this upper and lower unit really blend together. Thanks to all these horizontal bars that just kind of stack one above each other. These Chrome bars actually extend all the way into the framework for the headlights themselves. Check this out, this kind of tucks in just underneath the inboard light bezel. You've got some lighting here, LEDs here for a daytime running light. And then this one above it is actually the turn signal and they appear to kind of snake right into the grill itself. So some very cool intricate stuff going on. Speaking of intricate stuff going on as well, check this out. This is the license plate frame in states that require a front plate, you'd throw it right here, but if you're in a state that doesn't require a front plate, you can actually leave this piece in here. Volkswagen says, which offers some more visual continuity, pretty cool. Now, this car here has 18 inch wheels. You can get all the way up to twenties with optional wheels. Overall dimensions on the Arteon haven't changed that much versus the CC according to Volkswagen. But wheel base is up a significant 5 inches. Now, one thing that stays similar to the CC, are these doors, no window frames on the CC and none here either. Now as a premium car in the Volkswagen lineup, you'd expect the Arteon to have nicer cabin materials than your average sort of mid-size family sedan. And that's mostly true, lots of nice soft stuff, low gloss surfaces, padding where your arms and your elbows land, but like anything with kind of a low roof line, coupe like profile like this, you do get limited visibility out the rear window and some limited head room, especially if you like to sit high like I do. As far as technology goes, a lot of stuff kind of borrowed from Audi here, virtual gauges here to show things like your navigation system or the actual dials themselves. Audi, obviously being a Volkswagen group brand, and even some of the styling elements up here, things like these veins across the dashboard here, we've seen that in some Audi products. They make their way over to the Arteon here and kind of echo some of the styling you see upfront on the car. Infotainment here, an 8 inch screen is standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Nice to see, Volkswagen has physical volume and tuning knobs. Now Volkswagen claims a little more interior room in the Arteon versus the CC. Getting into the back seat, adults will still have to kind of duck down to get in because of that roof line. But once you're in, you're actually pretty roomy. I'm six feet tall, that's where I'd sit to drive. As you can see, I've got a lot of knee room leftover, reasonably high seating position and headroom to spare. Now, when the Arteon goes on sale in the US it's going to have 1 engine. It's a 2 Liter turbocharged, 4 cylinder, good for 268 horsepower. It drives the front wheels or optional all wheel drive through an 8 speed automatic transmission. Now pricing still to be determined, but Volkswagen says this is again going to be a premium car positioned above the Passat. So it's a good guess to say, it's going to start in the low $30,000 range, top out in the low $40,000 range. Stay tuned for full information on this car, including our driving impressions closer, to the all new Arteon's on sale date in late summer of 2018.
