Volkswagen Atlas not off the map for Australia

Buyer demand for SUVs is so influential in today's global new car market that ‘impossible’ one day becomes ‘reality’ the next.

OK, so a convertible SUV like the Nissan Murano never graced local café strips, but, according to Michael Bartsch, Volkswagen Group Australia’s managing director, the red line hasn’t as yet been put through Australian sales of the large Atlas SUV.

Bartsch told motoring.com.au he was "constantly fighting" to get the Toyota Prado-sized SUV engineered for Australian requirements. He remains hopeful negotiations will bear fruit in future.

"We would love to have the Atlas [in Australia] and we're in constant discussions [to make it happen]," he revealed.

The Atlas is a full-sized SUV designed specifically for the North American market; even the name was tailored to US audiences because it's easier to pronounce than Touareg. Despite being based on the Volkswagen Group’s modular MQB platform -- which underpins the Tiguan, Golf and Passat -- it's a gargantuan vehicle measuring more than five metres long (5037mm) and almost two metres wide (1979mm).

Which makes the Volkswagen bigger in almost every dimension than either Toyota’s Prado or LandCruiser 200 Series, and only slightly narrower than the latter. It's more than half a metre longer than the five-seat Tiguan.

Power for the Atlas comes exclusively from petrol engines – at this stage – including a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder and a 3.6-litre V6. Outputs range from around 175kW to well beyond 200kW and both drive through a traditional eight-speed automatic gearbox.

Technology highlights include a customisable digital instrument panel (Volkswagen's version of the Audi virtual cockpit), Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, LED lights inside and out, automated steering, braking and acceleration, pedestrian detection, cameras everywhere, self-parking – basically everything you’ll find in the flagship Volkswagen Arteon.

Price? It starts at around $US30,000 in North America which, at today's exchange rate, would be around $A40,000 locally.

As Bartsch tells it, the Atlas was almost engineered for right-hand drive (RHD) markets. But, as a general rule, it's a challenge and an expensive engineering adjunct because only a minority of global new car markets require RHD vehicles.

"The Atlas is made in the USA and the opportunity was there to get it as a RHD vehicle, subject to a critical volume being achieved. But Africa didn’t want it because there was no diesel. England didn’t want it because it's too big for their market and it doesn’t fit for Japan or Singapore either.

"So Australia was, in the end, left standing as the only RHD market that really, really wanted it. So at the moment there's not a planning volume that gives them the business case to make it in RHD," he conceded.

Jeff Shafer, Volkswagen Australia's product planning manager for SUVs and passenger cars is also keen on the Atlas. He explained: "With the current strength of SUVs in Australia it's definitely something we'd consider.

"The advantage of the Atlas is that's it's a quite a large car, and for the purpose its intended, a lot of people are looking for this sort of SUV. There's definitely potential for the Atlas in Australia.”

Significantly larger than the Volkswagen Touareg (4801mm) and the upcoming seven-seat Tiguan Allspace (4701mm), the Atlas is also wider.

If the Atlas does make it ‘Downunder’, it's expected the Touareg will remain the SUV technology and luxury leader, while the made-in-America Volkswagen would be the troop carrier – while still offering lots of tech.

The glimmer of hope in the Aussie Atlas saga is that, in the mid-term future, the business case for the gargantuan SUV starts to make more sense. At that point, the substantial cost to research and develop a new car is repaid – especially if said vehicle is popular – which opens up opportunities for outlying markets.

"The thing with this industry is that the lifecycle of the product is around five or six years, and the world always looks different when you're three years into the product cycle," Bartsch observed.

"Everybody understands how development costs have amortised and when you get to the end of the product run, each unit gets cheaper.

"So the critical volume required to get it done might be a little different. We'll see. We're not giving up on it."

Volkswagen has increased its market share in Australia by leaps and bounds in recent years, despite the explosive dieselgate scandal - where it fudged exhaust emission numbers - and a lack of SUVs. Less than 30 per cent of Volkswagen Australia's sales are currently for SUVs which overall account for 52 per cent of the Aussie market.

At the time of writing, Volkswagen Group Australia had only two SUVs in showrooms, the Tiguan and Touareg, and, depending on the colour and the variant, there is up to a six month waiting list for the former. The company has also delayed the T-Roc compact SUV by another year.

"Our colleagues in Germany are very well aware of the situation and are doing whatever they can to support us to get that coverage," Bartsch revealed.

Buyer predilection for larger SUVs, utes and pickups put several nails in the coffin of large passenger cars in Australia, which eventually saw the demise of the local vehicle manufacturing industry. But it also highlights the growing demand for vehicles like the Atlas, which will become even more critical as buyer tastes continue to change.

"We have not given up on the Atlas. We're constantly fighting for it," resolved Volkswagen’s Australian chief.

Do you think the Volkswagen Atlas could work in Australia? Have your say in the comments below.