As promised, Volkswagen has revealed a smaller, sportier, even slightly coupe-like concept SUV based on their North American behemoth, the Atlas. Normally a 7-seater, this Atlas Cross Sport omits the third row accommodations and shaves that roof line a tad.
A Tiguan competitor this is not, but rather one that could go on to compete with the BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe, if only Volkswagen would dump the ambiguity and announce its confirmed production. It wouldn’t be much of an engineering impasse since it’s so heavily derived from a current model and will likely built alongside it with minimal impact. Which they did!
Volkswagen’s announcement at the New York Motor Show included details on the company’s North American double down that will involve a 900 million US Dollar expansion plan for their manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with roughly 340 million dedicated to bringing the Altas Cross Sport to showrooms.
Naturally, it will be built with VW’s modular MQB platform, but upon its launch will feature a plug-in hybrid powertrain with an expected all-electric range of an estimated 70km. We presume this would be paired with the brand’s turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol.
However, it’s also been confirmed to inherit the Atlas’ 3.6-litre naturally aspirated VR6 with 206kW and 350Nm - you know, the same from the Passat R36. Interestingly, this version will be made even more potent with the six-cylinder motor augmented by two electric motors. It can be had with as a conventional hybrid or as a plug-in hybrid; a 2.0kWh battery supplies the HEV and a much larger 18kWh electrical reservoir is given to the PHEV.
As you’d expect, the version with the highest capacity battery will pack the most punch with a total system output stretching to 265kW. The conventional hybrid (HEV) version isn’t far behind, though, with 231kW available under (right) foot. Torque figures have not been disclosed.
Expect a final production version of the Atlas Cross Sport to debut in 2019 with the first deliveries at the tail end of next year or in early 2020. Perhaps by then, Volkswagen would have also seen the business case to offer it in markets outside of North America.
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