Sedans become stars of Volkswagen lineup
Roster includes the Arteon, making Canadian debut and featuring massaging seats
Going against the grain a bit this year, Volkswagen’s newest products that take centre stage are sedans.
Making its Canadian debut at the Canadian International AutoShow is the 2019 Volkswagen Arteon.
A full-size sedan, the Arteon borrows the sleek roofline of a coupe to inject some sex appeal and extra practicality back into the car segment. That graceful rear roofline is a hatchback, opening wide and offering easy access to the 563-litre trunk.
As sexy as junk in the trunk and generous passenger space are, the Arteon isn’t short on dynamic and technological appeal either. It will be a showcase for the latest tech Volkswagen has to its name, from adaptive cruise control and digital gauge cluster to dynamic suspension, but best of all, massaging seats.
Volkswagen is launching the Arteon in North America with, you guessed it, the 2.0-litre turbo fourcylinder, here making 268 horsepower and 258 lb.-ft. of torque sent through an eight-speed automatic transmission to standard 4Motion all-wheel drive, all for less than $50,000. We fully expect other powertrains to join the range and if the next Volkswagen is any indication, a V6 GT trim sounds perfect to us.
The Passat is at the very end of its life cycle and the Passat GT is its swan song with styling updates and a return of the beloved VR6. The Volkswagen Passat GT borrows styling cues from the GTI (painted red brake calipers, a black honeycomb grille insert and red accent lines) and gets a big performance boost from the presence 3.6-litre turbocharged VR6 engine to the tune of 280 hp.
While it remains front-wheel drive, the six-speed double-clutch DSG transmission will make for quick shifts and the lowered suspension and 19-inch wheels should raise the bar when it comes to handling.
At the other end of the spectrum is an entirely new 2019 Volkswagen Jetta, which joins the Arteon and Golf on the brand’s adaptable MQB architecture. The design doesn’t stray far from the previous generation classic sedan styling but subtle tweaks give it a more modern and upscale look.
The big changes are inside and under the skin, with a dramatically new interior and new eight-speed transmission paired to the1.4L turbo-four. The interior adopts a more driverfirst approach with a 6.5-inch touchscreen that easily syncs with most phones courtesy of Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and MirrorLink, and available premium perks include Digital Cockpit, 10-colour ambient lighting, heated and ventilated leather seats, and BeatsAudio system.
The Jetta also incorporates much of Volkswagen’s new tech arsenal with available forward collision alert, blind-spot monitor with rear traffic alert, adaptive cruise control and lane assist.
Although not new for this year, Volkswagen has not overlooked the SUV market, and they finally have a three-row, seven-seat mid-size SUV in the Atlas, and it’s a big deal.
Powered by either a 235-hp 2.0 turbo-four or 276-hp 3.6L V6, the Atlas is spacious and accommodating for families with plenty of cargo room, even with all three rows in use.
If you’re looking for something a little smaller, the new 2018 Tiguan looks like a mini-me version of the Atlas, especially with matching RLine design packages. The Tiguan also offers available third-row seating, but that would severely curtail cargo space.
In the Tiguan, the 2.0L turbo fourcylinder is more modestly endowed, producing 184 hp with an eightspeed automatic and all-wheel drive available from $31,175.
Beyond the new faces at the Volkswagen booth, you’ll find some old favourites, with the Golf line displaying its incredible range and variety, from the standard hatchback to the rip-roaring Golf R hot hatch and its milder GTI stable mate.
Volkswagen ever offers two varieties of wagons, the sporty SportWa- gen or the rugged, lifted Alltrack — both available in that oh-so-rare manual transmission and all-wheel drive configuration paired with a1.8L turbo four-cylinder that offers both impressive efficiency and good power for this compact.
Families will also appreciate that Volkswagen continues to sponsor the PlayCare area for kids who have had enough of shiny cars and just want to run around for a while, giving you time to take a closer look at some of the cars and crossovers or just play with the Hot Wheels track on your own without them hogging all the turns.