Volkswagen Previews Five Seat Atlas Variant

As promised, the US is getting another Volkswagen SUV designed specifically for American tastes.
The “Five-Passenger Atlas,” as it’s being referred to ahead of a concept reveal at the New York Auto Show next week, is being hailed as a sign of VW’s commitment to the American market.

Like the Atlas off of which it’s based, the Five-Passenger Atlas is based on the MQB platform and will be built in Chattanooga.

The Atlas, itself designed specifically for America, has been something of a sales hit. Combined, sales of the Atlas, the new Tiguan, and the Tiguan Limited made up more than 50% of VW sales in America in February.

Bigger than the Tiguan, this new Atlas variant will likely take over for the Touareg, whose new version it has been reported will not come to the States.

“The Atlas has built strong momentum for Volkswagen in the SUV segment, and we are excited to grow our SUV portfolio with this new, Chattanooga-assembled five-passenger SUV,” said Hinrich Woebcken, President VW Group of America. “We are not only committed to this market, we are committed to our US manufacturing home in Chattanooga, Tennessee.”

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On top of the $900 million investment VW made to introduce the Atlas to Chattanooga’s assembly plant, VW has invested a further $340 million to build this new variant.

Although VW hasn’t officially revealed a name yet, trademark applications that VW Vortex previously uncovered suggest that it will either be called the “Atlas Allsport” or the “Atlas Cross Sport.”

This five-passenger Atlas isn’t expected to be the end of VW’s SUV offerings, though. Woebcken previously stated that VW would also introduce a Tiguan variant to the lineup. This will likely take the place of a T-Roc, which, like the Touareg, is not expected to come to America.

As mentioned above, VW will reveal a five-passenger Atlas concept at the New York International Auto Show. Press days start next week and the show runs from March 30 to April 8.

A version of this story originally appeared on VW Vortex

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