Just do it, VW.
Volkswagen had not one but two concept vehicles to show off at the 2018 New York Motor Show, both derived from their Atlas, a 7-seater SUV that’s was specifically designed for the North American market and manufactured there for sale nowhere other than that region.
The first concept was a sportier, 5-seat coupe-like take on that large and in-charge Atlas that’s due to debut in production form over the coming couple of years. But the second concept vehilce, the one we’re looking at here, called awkwardly the Atlas Tanoak (named after a tree), might be much more significant as a bonus to being the more interesting as a company prospect.
Despite being a pickup, the Tanoak is still based on the same MQB platform that underpins the Atlas SUV as well as cars like the Golf and Audi TT - and does not sit upon a hardier ladder frame chassis. Perhaps outright utility isn’t the point, but rather providing ute levels of practicality to normal buyers, along with a good degree of luxury, design, and tech - just look at that modern interior.
It retains many of the SUV’s traits and even adds in a good dose of futuristic touches, bold lines, and enough wow factor for there to be some serious demand here, even more so than the Atlas Cross Sport. Basically, it’s an Atlas with everything past the second row seats replaced with a useful truck bed.
Measuring 5,438mm, the Tanoak is what is considered a mid-size pickup, and would hypothetically be rival to the Honda Ridgeline, Nissan Frontier, and Toyota Tacoma. That cargo box was designed to offer more versatility too, offering seemingly no brainer features like a cargo bracket to transport long items such as canoes. There’s even gate that folds into the middle second row seat to function as an improvised ski-hatch, but to enable easy transport of wider long items.
Encouragingly, the Tanoak inherits the 3.6-litre naturally aspirated VR6 petrol from the Atlas SUV, it’s tune of 206kW and 350Nm unchanged from when the same motor graced the Passat R36. In the Tanoak, VW pairs it with an 8-speed torque converter automatic.
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