Double premiere in New York: Volkswagen presents the Atlas Cross Sport and Atlas Tanoak concept cars
- Atlas Cross Sport: five-seat Atlas concept car in dynamic coupé style offers a tangible preview of a new Volkswagen SUV for the American market
- Atlas Tanoak: the concept car being shown in New York is the first pickup to be based on the modular transverse matrix (MQB)
- Future Atlas range: these two show cars show the potential of a possible family of Atlas vehicles
Volkswagen is igniting the next stage of its global SUV campaign. After recently presenting the new Touareg in China, Volkswagen is now presenting – at the New York International Auto Show (March 28 to April 08) – two new versions of the Atlas developed for the USA: the Atlas Cross Sport and the Atlas Tanoak. The two concept cars illustrate how the Atlas range could be expanded into a model family. With its hybrid drive and a coupé-like rear body design, the five-seat, near-production Atlas Cross Sport was developed for use in metropolitan areas like New York or San Francisco. Meanwhile, the Atlas Tanoak pickup – with its innovative cargo system – is an ideal choice for driving across America’s expansive landscapes. Both Atlas concept cars feature extensively digitalized interiors.
The Atlas is a successful newcomer in the SUV market in the USA. More than 36,000 units have already been sold since it was launched on the market last year. This success confirms that Volkswagen has developed precisely the right car for this important segment with the Atlas. In Manhattan, Volkswagen is now demonstrating – with the show cars it is presenting there – how the Atlas model series will not stop with just one model.
Volkswagen is presenting a pickup whose technical DNA follows the modular transverse matrix (MQB) for the first time: the all-wheel drive Atlas Tanoak. The pickup is named after a species of tree that is home to the Pacific Coast and grows up to 45 meters in height. At a length of 5,438 mm, the Tanoak is considered a mid-size pickup in the USA. The concept car is 2,030 mm wide and 1,844 mm tall. The Atlas Tanoak has been designed as a five-seater with a dual cab. Behind the dual cab is a cargo box measuring 1,627 mm in length, 1,450 in width and 530 mm in height.
The cargo box has been designed to transport bikes, boards and smaller boats. Take the example of boats: there is a newly developed cargo bracket on the cargo bed, which can be released from its parked position near the rear window of the dual cab and be moved to the side walls of the cargo box. This produces a carrier system that can be used to transport canoes, for example, by easily and securely fastening them to fixed mounting points at the cargo bracket and on the roof of the Atlas Tanoak.
Propulsive power for the pickup comes from a 3.6-liter V6 FSI engine of the Atlas model series with an output of 206 kW / 280 PS. It transfers its power and a maximum torque of 350 Nm variably to the two axles via a 4MOTION all-wheel drive system and an 8-speed automatic transmission.
Volkswagen SUV campaign
Volkswagen will be strengthening its position in the important SUV segment systematically as part of its TRANSFORM 2025+ strategy. This also applies specifically to the North American market. In upcoming years, two more models will be launched there: the production version of the Atlas Sport Cross and the all-electric I.D. CROZZ announced for 2020. In the USA, the share of SUVs has grown to more than 50 percent of total Volkswagen sales due to the successful Atlas and the new 2017 Tiguan.
