Volkswagen Teases The Arteon Fastback

A new Volkswagen is rolling into the Geneva show, and it’s a big one. The Arteon is a midsize GT fastback that will be positioned above the Passat. VW says it has “avant-garde” styling, like how the headlights and grille flow into each other, to the point you don’t know where one stops and the other begins.

Basically, it sounds like this is an ego trip for a company that’s reeling.

The smart move would’ve been to pump out another crossover. People love crossovers right now, like people in China and the US. Sure, they’re not always exciting, but crossovers pay the bills, and Volkswagen has a lot of those to pay.

Back to the Arteon: the interior’s supposed to be spacious, but since when does an automaker say “you know, rear headroom is actually pretty cramped.” Since we can only see two detail shots of the car, we can only believe a company that for years lied about diesel emissions. Because let’s be honest: most of these four-door “coupes” (which is what the Arteon sounds like it is) have horrible rear headroom.

VW says the Arteon’s loaded with the latest driver assistance tech, like what you find on luxury cars. Will this one have a luxury price, like the Phaeton? I’d love to say Volkswagen learns from its past mistakes, but I can’t say that and be honest.