Arteon Could Join VW’s High-End Lineup In Place Of CC

Unless you follow Volkswagen closely, you probably don’t know that there’s a model that is slightly larger and more luxurious than the Passat, the CC. Though a four-door model based on the Passat, the CC carries the name “Comfort Coupe,” though it is a four-door.

Sharing its wheelbase with the Passat, the CC is an inch or so longer than the Passat. The roofline is more dramatically sloped than the Passat so that there is somewhat less headroom. As it is an inch wider, there is more space.

Crossover Sales Hit Sedans

Never a hot-seller, the CC did respectably until the bottom fell out of the sedan market as buyers abandoned traditional cars for compact and mid-sized crossovers. Spurring this move away from more efficient cars, lower gasoline prices have ensured crossovers their superheated part of the market.

The CC is available with a choice of either a two-liter four or a 3.8-liter VR-6 engine.

Monday, Volkswagen showed a possible successor to the aging CC – introduced in 2008. The automaker previewed the Arteon in a black-and-white charcoal study. The automaker says it is thinking of bringing it to the U.S.

Called the Arteon, the sketch shows an amalgam that merges contemporary Passat styling with fastback rear-end lines. VW calls it the next era of its designs. Concept versions of the vehicle are set to debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March. The Arteon is scheduled to go on sale in Europe next summer at an expected price of $35,000.

The new model sits above the Passat sedan. VW plans to replace the current CC with the new model in its global lineup. According to Automotive News, its prospects are hazy. It leaves a potential gap in the flagship spot above Passat as the current CC is set to be phased down.

Arteon May Hit U.S.

A VW of America spokesman said the automaker is studying whether to sell the Arteon in the U.S. If its sale is approved, it will more than likely, arrive in 2018. Plans call for the Arteon build at Emden, Germany, on a line made available by the phase-out of the CC.

The lines of the Arteon are reminiscent of the Sport Coupe Concept GTE that debuted at the 2015 Geneva show. The production model will be built using a stretched version of VW’s MQB modular platform that forms the basis for the Golf, Audi A4, the upcoming Atlas three-row crossover, slated to be built in Chattanooga and the redesigned Tiguan compact crossover.

The Arteon works into the vision outlined by Herbert Diess, VW brand chief. Diess said last week that VW plans an intensified focus on the U.S., offering more SUVs and larger sedans in the near term.

Sedan Sales Slipping

Meantime, the Arteon concept comes at a time of sliding sedan sales in the U.S. Thanks to low fuel prices and aggressive marketing; buyers are scarfing up crossovers, while sending mid-sized sedan sales over the wall. Sales of mid-sized sedans tumbled about 13 percent in October.

CC is already a low-numbers seller in the U.S. and globally. Although CC sales peaked at more than 29,000 in 2011, they fell to fewer than 10,000 per year each year since 2015. Indeed, through October of this year, less than 2,600 were sold in the U.S.