Crossover and SUV sales had been on the rise recently and to take advantage of this, automakers have been expanding this segment in their model lineup.
Volkswagen is finally joining the fray with their new 3-Row Crossover. While other manufacturers have three, or maybe even five crossovers/SUVs in their lineup, VW only has the compact Tiguan and large Touareg. Now, the Atlas will be joining VW’s lineup as a midsized SUV.
Expected to be built at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tenn, assembly plant, the Atlas will offer third-row seating and go up against other 3-row crossovers/SUVs like the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Dodge Durango, etc. so far, we don’t really know much about the interior besides the fact that there’s three rows of seats that will fit up to six passengers not including the driver.
Taking design cues from the CrossBlue concept, TopSpeed thinks the Atlas will probably sit on Volkswagen’s MQB platform and borrow engines from other models like the Skoda Kodiaq or maybe even the Audi Q7. Most likely, the Atlas will be powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder or a 3.0-liter V-6. In the Audi Q7, the 3.0-liter gas engine produces 333 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque. The 2.0-liter gasoline engine can crank out 252 horsepower and 273 pound-feet with a top speed of 155 mph. This is all purely speculation and the final production model could have a completely different powertrain.
The Atlas sits between the $25,000 Tiguan and $49,995 Touareg in both price and size so we could see a starting price around $31,000 or $32,000. There’s a large pricing gap between the two “T” models that VW can play with so we could see it sell for as much as $40,000.
We’ll most likely hear more next year when the Atlas’ release date approaches.
