Volkswagen has finally made a three-row full-size SUV. Well, they already kind of did with the Touareg, (I had to look up how to spell that) but I believe the Touareg was a terrible idea and should have been an Audi. Volkswagen didn’t learn from the fact that their Phaeton, (which they sold for a short time in the 2000s) had no success, and decided to make another luxury vehicle. If you don’t know what the Phaeton is, it was basically an Audi A8. The fact that Volkswagen wasn’t a brand-name luxury car turned people away from the Phaeton, and it sold terribly. Volkswagen should have learned from their mistake with the Phaeton, but they didn’t. Instead of making the Touareg an Audi, they made it a Volkswagen luxury car. The Atlas, which I think will do great. They can finally compete with cars like the Pilot and the Highlander.
Also, now Volkswagen has an affordable full-size SUV. Trims of the Atlas include S, Launch Edition, Launch Edition with 4MOTION, (that’s what Volkswagen calls All Wheel Drive. SE with both 4MOTION and Technology. After that is SEL, SEL with 4MOTION, and SEL Premium. The driver’s seat of the Atlas is comfortable, the cabin is very roomy, and the wheel, which I’m pretty sure is leather-wrapped, was soft. The cabin in the Atlas is very nice, and there isn’t a ton of plastic in the car unlike some of this car’s competitors. The passenger seat is very comfortable, and there is a huge glovebox in front of it. There is a fairly big infotainment system screen in the center, and I believe said infotainment system screen has Apple CarPlay. The backseat is two captain’s chairs followed by a bench seat in the third row. The captains’ chairs each have armrests, and both rows have lots of legroom. There are also air vents in the backseat, but what SUV doesn’t? Every trim level has features, and I will show you some of the ones worth mentioning.
What I found hilarious with this car is that standard on every Atlas is an LED license plate lighting system. So if you want to get away with not paying a toll at night, Volkswagen says no. If you don’t want a person to see your license plate at night, Volkswagen does not approve. They’re going to force you to have this license plate lighting system. The S is the only model without a panoramic sunroof, without AWD, or 4MOTION, available, and without a V6 engine. The Launch Edition has, in addition to the S, the panoramic touch screen and V6 engine mentioned above, a Composition Media 8 inch touch screen instead of the 6.5 inch touch screen on the S, and SiriusXM satellite radio. The SEL Premium, the top trim, includes everything and more. More consists of rain-sensing wipers, park assist, high beam control, a heated steering wheel, Volkswagen Digital Cockpit, interior ambient lighting, leather seats, heated second row seats, an overhead view 360 degree camera, and a Fender premium 8 speaker audio system. Is the Atlas worth the money? Definitely. You get a lot for it. 70,000 that includes a heated steering wheel. Also, this car is way better than any Touareg ever was.
An Italian consumer group is inviting car buyers to join a class action lawsuit against Fiat and Volkswagen over allegations that the companies exaggerated the fuel-saving credentials of their vehicles. 320) to each buyer of the Panda model and 509 euros to owners of the Golf model tested, based on what it estimates to be additional fuel costs for an average annual distance driven of 15,000km (9,320 miles). Monique Goyens, director general of the European Consumer Organization, of which Altroconsumo is a member, said in a statement. Altroconsumo alleged that Fiat and Volkswagen were using loopholes such as over-inflating tires or reducing the vehicle weight, giving significantly lower consumption figures than realized in real-life driving situations. Officials at Fiat and Volkswagen both said they were unable to comment immediately. Altroconsumo said the class action will go ahead regardless of how many people join and expects to deposit the papers with an Italian court within weeks. EU regulators are already preparing draft legislation that will require a vehicle's fuel consumption performance to be tested on roads rather than in laboratories.
What Is Volkswagen’s MEB Platform? The electric car offensive from Volkswagen will soon begin. This new platform, the one which allows for this electric revolution is referred to by Volkswagen as the MEB. That’s kind of short for Modular Electrification Toolkit.WHAT IS IT? MEB is a car platform. It will be used to underpin the future cars manufactured by Volkswagen and its sub-brands. Because it is modular, meaning it can be shortened, lengthened and otherwise modified, it can be used on various types of cars, ranging in size from SUVs to hatchbacks. This is not the first modular platform for Volkswagen. Back in 2012, the Germans introduced the Modular Transverse Matrix, or MQB, on which models like the Audi TT and A3, Skoda Superb and Karoq or Volkswagen Golf and Jetta are based on. In all, some 55 million cars sold over the past decade. The MEB is an evolution of the MBQ, one that drops the design needed for transverse, front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout in favor of a design capable of incorporating electric batteries and wheel motors.
