Volkswagen reveals new Atlas seven-seat SUV

Scandal-hit Volkswagen is betting big on its US-built Atlas SUV to carry it back to credibility in North America. Actually, it’s betting big by making its Atlas the biggest SUV it has ever made.

Fitting above both the new mid-size Tiguan and the full-size Touareg SUVs, the seven-seat Atlas is being touted as an American Volkswagen -- designed by Americans for Americans -- that just happens to be wearing a German badge.

While that’s clearly an oversimplification, the Atlas is a departure in more than the 'T' model naming tradition of the German SUVs, and there is not even a hint that the SUV might ever be sold in Europe at all.

That’s partly guaranteed because when it goes on sale in the next northern spring, it will only be built with either a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine or a 3.6-litre V6, both fuelled by petrol.

Europe, Asia and markets like Australia and South Africa will instead get sent a long-wheelbase version of the Tiguan, complete with a third row of seats for seven people.

There’s an understandable reluctance in Volkswagen’s US operation for a diesel variant of the Atlas, too, which will cruel its chances of being exported back to the home market.

It has been confirmed for sale in Russia and the Middle East, but so far the Atlas has not been confirmed for right-hand drive production and Volkswagen remains non-committal on its prospects in other markets.

However, that hasn't stopped Volkswagen Group Australia "fighting hard for it", in the hope that an affordable new seven-seat VW SUV could one day slot in between the Tiguan and Touareg in SUV-crazy Australia.

“We have to acknowledge that right-hand-drive is a remote contingency in Atlas," VGA corporate communications general manager Paul Pottinger told motoring.com.au.

"That said, there’s no doubt that Atlas would fit naturally into Volkswagen Australia’s SUV rollout. It would slide in below the new Toaureg – which remains our halo vehicle and technology showcase – and above the long-wheelbase Tiguan.

"There would be more room in the Atlas’s rear seats than the seven-seat Tiguan because it’s the next segment up.”

At 5037mm long, the Atlas has been designed as the biggest SUV Volkswagen will build off its near-ubiquitous MQB chassis architecture, which underpins cars like the Golf and the European Passat.

The 175kW four-cylinder Atlas will only be available as a front-wheel drive, though the 206kW VR6 version will come in either front- or all-wheel drive variants. Both engine variants mate to eight-speed automatic transmissions and paddle shifting is an option.

Volkswagen has yet to make claims about the SUV’s performance or fuel economy and has so far refused to confirm a weight figure. It will confirm, though, that it will be 1979mm wide and 1768mm high, and will come complete with three rows of seating.

It’s more than half a metre (551mm) longer than the standard Tiguan and 236mm longer than the Touareg. It’s also 39mm wider than the next biggest Volkswagen SUV and 140mm wider than the Tiguan, while it’s 36mm higher than the Touareg and 122mm higher than the Tiguan.

That it has such enormous dimensional gaps the to the Tiguan, which shares its core architecture, ably demonstrates the flexibility built into the MQB platform system.

"This is the biggest and boldest Volkswagen we have ever built in the United States, delivering the distinctive design and craftsmanship we’re known for, now with room for seven," Volkswagen’s North American CEO Hinrich J Woebcken said.

Revealed in Santa Monica today ahead of its world public debut at the Los Angeles motor show next month, the Atlas will also come with much of the in-car electronics equipment the MQB has become known for.

They include an optional virtual cockpit digital instrument display and app-connecting technology with the major smartphone platforms, including Apple’s CarPlay, Android Auto and MirrorLink. There will also be a 12-speaker, 480-Watt Fender sound system.

On a more practical level, Volkswagen insists the car will have an innovative, simple-to-use foldaway system for its third seating row, while the Atlas also has deep door pockets and a variety of in-cabin oddments storage.

While LED tail-lights are optional, it uses standard LED headlights and daytime running lights. It also runs the full gamut of driver assistance systems, including active cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, lane assist, parking steering assist and blind spot warnings that also cover cross traffic in reversing situations.

The Atlas also delivers standard automatic post-collision braking to reduce the possibility of additional collisions after any serious accident.

The Atlas will be built in the same €900 million production plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as the US-specific Passat.

It’s good news for Volkswagen, which fought its way back to a $2 billion operating profit in the third-quarter of 2016. Its North American dealers, in particular, have struggled since the Dieselgate scandal broke and they now have an untainted model to sell.