VW Goes Upmarket With Fastback Hatch

Volkswagen doesn’t like the narrative that the 2019 Arteon is “replacing” the CC (aka the Passat Comfort Coupe), and you can kinda see why: The Arteon is far more visually striking and a better performer, and it takes the automaker in new directions of assistance and safety technology.Volkswagen is calling the Arteon a “five-seat GT car.” We’d call it a good-looking midsize hatchback. Discussing the car for America is rather straightforward. Although the world gets three gas and three diesel engine options, America will see only a 2.0-liter turbo generating 276 hp and 258 lb-ft.

VWs have always been known for having generally favorable European driving dynamics and functional but plain interiors. The Arteon separates with those on the interior front, where, along with its lauded exterior design that is largely unchanged from the concept two years ago, VW is moving decidedly more upscale. The Reflex Silver Elegance model we drove required a front-seat passenger to reach far forward and down to find completely hard plastic surfacing.

The car will launch in Elegance and R-Line trims, and a base model will follow shortly. The Elegance, as you’d imagine, comes with upscale aesthetic enhancements: LED taillights with indicators that build from inboard to outboard as they signal, a continuous chrome strip on the lower body, and heated windshield wiper nozzles. Inside comes contrast stitching on seats and mats, aluminum-look pedal covers, Alcantara and leather seat covers, and heated front seats.

The R-Line has a more aggressive front end with intakes in gloss black and different bumpers. Inside, the roof liner goes black, door plates get the R-Line logo, which is also stamped on the seats, and it gets a flat-bottomed R-Line steering wheel. In Europe, the R-Line can be had with 20-inch wheels and a 20mm-lower ride height. No 20s for U.S. drivers, though. Just add them to the we-can’t-have-nice-things list.

The Elegance model we drove had a seven-speed DSG and 4Motion all-wheel drive. Models that eventually make their way to the States will have eight-speed automatics, though. That’s unfortunate because the DSG was smooth and quick, doing a good job on city streets, country roads, and the no-speed-limit portions of the Germany’s roads. Shifts were barely perceptible with no hunting.

And the tastefully small paddle shifters made for acceptably quick shifts in the Harz mountains, where doing our own shifting to set up corners and charge up hills was just more fun.