A Five-Seater Volkswagen Atlas will Debut in New York, but Where the Hell Will it Fit in the Lineup?

TopSpeed

By Kirby Garlitos

Published Mar 21, 2018

There are more questions than answers surrounding this new SUV

It wasn’t that long ago when Volkswagen proudly unveiled the hulking, seven-passenger Atlas SUV. It’s also not taking VW long to bolster its SUV lineup once again now that it announced plans to build a new five-passenger model that will serve as a smaller version of the aforementioned Atlas. Details are still scarce on what model this is going to be, but according to VW, it’s going to be designed and engineered for the U.S. market. As such, a concept version will be unveiled at the 2018 New York Auto Show next week.

There’s never really a day when there isn’t news about a crossover or an SUV. Yesterday, it was Mercedes-AMG. Today, it’s Volkswagen. Tomorrow? Who knows. What this all means, though, is clear, Crossovers and SUVs will continue to dominate the headlines for as long as they remain the most popular vehicles in the world today. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon, which is why we’re seeing a company like Volkswagen add another crossover to its lineup.

Details are still scarce about the five-seater Atlas, but Volkswagen did release a rendering of the concept model that’s headed to the 2018 New York Auto Show. Based on the image, it’s easy to see the similar design characteristics the model shares with the seven-seater Atlas. The three-bar front grille is similar to the one found on the Atlas, though the concept does show more integrated headlights compared to the ones found on the seven-seater SUV. The lower section looks sportier than the Atlas, which suggests that Volkswagen could be developing this model to be a “coupe-crossover” to give it an identity of its own relative to the Atlas. The body lines also share some similarities to the Atlas’ own character line. This could be one of the ways Volkswagen is planning to link the two models.

It is understood, though, that Volkswagen is developing this new crossover with the intention of giving it an identity of its own. It’s even investing around $340 million to produce it in its production facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There are strong indications that we might even see it sooner than expected, possibly in the next few years. The timetable for the crossover’s launch isn’t set in stone yet, but it would be interesting to see how Volkswagen rearranges its current crossover and SUV lineup to fit this new model in without it overlapping on one of the existing models that in the market today.

For now, our best guesses are as good as yours. The good news is that we won’t have to wait too long to find an answer from Volkswagen. A near-production concept is headed to New York next week, at which point we should be able to learn more about the new crossover and, just as important, Volkswagen’s plans for it.

Editor's Note: Rumor has it that the next-gen VW Toureg won't be coming to the U.S. Market so, while the smaller Atlas my serve as a more affordable entry point, it could serve as a spiritual replacement for Toureg, keeping VW's SUV lineup full.

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