VIDEO: Volkswagen Atlas teased

Volkswagen has posted its first teaser of its forthcoming seven-seat crossover that will go head-to-head with Toyota's Kluger.

Teasing a short image of the production mid-size SUV at the very end of the short film made for the US market, the car-maker gives us our first brief glimpse of how its big SUV is shaping up.

Originally it was thought the production car would look similar to the 2013 CrossBlue Coupe concept that was shown at the Detroit motor show but in the video the German car-maker debunks that theory by claiming, despite good feedback, it has rethought the production crossover to make it "bigger and bolder" for American consumers.

How big, hasn't been confirmed but it's thought the new SUV is easily bigger than the firm's current flagship Touareg.

Volkswagen also says its mid-size SUV will also  offer seven seats with easy access to the third row.

With the bigger dimensions, there should also be far more space for luggage than the original concept.

In the video, Volkswagen USA's CEO, Hinrich Woebcrken, also says the new SUV will tap into the heritage of the Beetle and Microbus that came before it and appeal to the US spirit of adventure.

Set to be revealed officially in California on October 27, the large Atlas hasn't yet been confirmed for Down Under but is now likely to come here once right-hand drive production has been confirmed.

Built at the car-maker's US-based Tennessee plant, like the smaller Tiguan SUV, the Atlas will is based on the Volkswagen Group's extremely versatile MQB platform.

That means it will share the Tiguan's all-wheel drive and range of turbocharged petrol and diesels. A powerful V6 petrol option is also likely.

In the US it's hoped the mid-size SUV will reverse a sales slump post-Dieselgate that has seen Volkswagen sell 12 per cent less cars since September 2015 when the emissions scandal broke.

Volkswagen Australia has already announced it is lobbying Germany hard to confirm the Atlas comes here.

If confirmed, it will join the car-maker's rapidly expanding SUV offering, that has recently seen the car-maker launch the second-generation Tiguan and confirm a long-wheelbase , seven-seat version of the compact SUV for early next year.

It doesn't stop there. Also arriving in 2018 will be a replacement for the Touareg and a smaller compact SUV.

In 2019, yet more high-riding off-roaders join the ranks with yet another compact SUV and SUV-coupe rocking up.

Also on the cards, but not confirmed is a tough SUV based on the Amarok, and SUV based on the pure-electric ID, a coupe version of the Tiguan and, finally, the Atlas.

Stay tuned for more Atlas action. It's thought that Volkswagen will reveal at least one more glimpse of the Atlas ahead of its unveiling.