At its annual conference, Volkswagen decided to lift the "tip of the veil" on new models to come.
If the strong theme of this annual conference revolved around the Transform 2025+ plan, with a focus on hybrid and electric vehicles, Volkswagen was not shy about revealing its plans for a much closer future.
The German brand announced the new models that will be presented later this year. In total, including those that have already been presented, Volkswagen will bring about 10 new models to the market this year globally.
Some of them are already known. At the beginning of the year, the German brand unveiled, for the North American market, the Atlas, a large SUV (5.0 meters long), with a capacity for seven seats. Continuing the SUV theme, and also with seven seats, we've already seen the Tiguan AllSpace.
South America received, however, the facelift of the up!. Returning to Europe, Volkswagen presented the Arteon at the Geneva Motor Show. The successor of the Passat CC assumes itself as the current top of the range of the brand, positioning itself above the Passat.
T-Roc produced in Portugal featured
By the end of the year, another six models will be presented. Starting in June with the presentation of the new generation of the Volkswagen Polo. The utility is the result of the new MQB A0 platform (introduced by Seat Ibiza), which should translate into higher internal quotas.
The month of August will make known the T-Roc crossover (above), based on the Golf, which is perhaps the most important innovation of the German brand of the year. Not only does it present the typology that guarantees the most success for builders today, it is also particularly important for us Portuguese, as it will be produced at Autoeuropa, in Palmela.
It will also be in August that the Chinese market will discover the PHEV version of the Phideon, the luxury saloon that replaced the Phaeton in that market.
We jump to November, when Volkswagen will make known the Virtus, a small saloon, derived from the Polo, destined for the South American market.
That same month, Europe will meet the successor of the Touareg, the brand's most luxurious proposal in the field of SUVs. Its disclosure may be anticipated for the Frankfurt Motor Show, in September.
The end of the year will be reserved for the presentation of a new Jetta, a saloon smaller than the Passat, destined for the North American market.
19 new SUVs and crossovers
If we only count 100% new models, almost half are SUVs and crossovers. The growing predominance of this type of models is set to continue, with Volkswagen announcing the launch of 19 new proposals in this regard.
There are no definitive confirmations on what the new proposals will be and whether or not they include the group's other brands. However, one of the proposals we already know is on its way. It's called T-Cross Breeze, a concept that reveals a convertible crossover. It was presented in 2016 and will give rise to a production model based on the new Volkswagen Polo. And it certainly won't be convertible.
NOT TO BE MISSED: The Automobile Reason needs you
For a more distant future, in 2020, we will see the arrival of the brand's new generation of trams, based on the dedicated MEB platform, starting with the production version of the concept I.D.
