![]() ![]() I recruited a friend to climb into the third row with me, where we found plenty of adult-sized headroom and, even with the second-row seats pushed all the way back, decent legroom, plus toe space under the second-row chairs. As I said above, riders back here have nearly as much space as they’d get in a Golf, and that’s a big deal. But the big surprise here is the third row. In my $53,165 (as-tested) Execline tester, a panoramic sunroof hogs a lot of headroom, but still leaves plenty for front and rear seat occupants alike. The Atlas may wear the name of a European automaker, but there’s no doubt it was designed for North America you won’t find this Tennessee-built truck in many markets outside of this continent. The Atlas’s measurements actually line up more closely with those of the Ford Explorer. Look out over the wide flat hood, and then at your front-seat passenger, who seems further away than you’re used to in a vehicle competing for mid-size-SUV dollars. Folding the new model’s second row opens up 2,471 L of cargo volume, against the Touareg’s maximum of 1,812 L.Īt the wheel, the initial impression is akin to being in a full-size SUV like the Chevrolet Tahoe, only a little narrower (but not as much as you’d think) and closer to the ground. And then there’s the third row, which adds 1,100 L of passenger space (nearly as much as the rear seat in a Golf hatchback) the Touareg could only dream of.Ĭargo space is up, too: with its third row folded, the Atlas can swallow 1,571 L of cargo, compared to just 909 in a Touareg with all of its seats in place. That extra size allowed VW to create a significantly larger interior: passenger volume is up by 119 L in the front seats (to 1,727 L) while the 1,515 L second row is nearly 200 L roomier than the Touareg. The Atlas both looks and is huge, measuring 241 mm longer tip-to-tail than the Touareg, standing 46 mm taller and 38 mm wider, perched on a wheelbase stretched by 86 mm. ![]() I’d suggest it’s up to the task, at least based on its stature. ![]() But to an industry outsider, it would be easy to assume this renewed focus on SUVs is something of a Hail Mary move to keep the company profitable in the wake of the billions and billions of dollars it spent to compensate TDI owners who thought their cars were cleaner than they really were.Ītlas seems an entirely appropriate name here, given how much of Volkswagen’s future is riding on its broad shoulders. We know at least two, and probably three, will be available here: the Atlas an all-new, larger Tiguan that will also offer three rows of seating and the T-Roc, a compact two-door crossover that seems a sure thing for the US market and a strong possibility for Canada, too.Īuto-industry product-development cycles are long, so it’s entirely possible both the Atlas and upcoming Tiguan version 2.0 were well into their design phases when VW’s diesel scandal broke in late 2015. The Atlas is part of Volkswagen’s plan to add seven(!) new SUVs and crossovers to its global lineup by the end of 2018, and eventually offer a total of 19(!!) utility vehicles in markets around the world. The company recently announced plans to revive the spirit of its iconic Microbus with a production version of the retro-styled ID Buzz electric van concept it showed at January’s Detroit auto show.Īnd back in the 1990s, Volkswagen attempted to cash in on the minivan craze (better late than never) with the Eurovan, a boxy but spacious vehicle that was ultimately too Euro (read: underpowered and too expensive) to gain traction in a segment dominated by Grand Caravans and Honda Odysseys. Volkswagen is no novice at building vehicles made to move lots of people. Enter its replacement, the 2018 Volkswagen Atlas, an all-new crossover that is the brand’s first to offer three-row seating for up to seven and points to a more affordable approach to people-moving. The result was a really nice SUV for the people, so long as the people could afford a price that was easy to push north of $60,000.īut what the Touareg never offered was an interior large enough to accommodate more than five people. Perhaps driven by VW’s own aspirations, the car’s relationship to those luxury models, or a combination of the two factors, the Touareg was an upscale vehicle that could be optioned with a gasoline V8 or a massive turbodiesel V10 and a height-adjustable air suspension. The end of VW’s modern van experiment dovetailed nicely with the arrival in the early 2000s of its first SUV, the Touareg, a five-seat mid-size model developed alongside the first-generation versions of the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7.Ītlas seems an entirely appropriate name here, given how much of Volkswagen’s future is riding on its broad shoulders.
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