VW Arteon is Simply Too Expensive for Being Passat

I liked the start, I really did. Introduction of Passat CC back in 2008 looked promising as the brand intended to win the hearts, not only rational minds. Yes, no one believed it was a coupe (as those don’t have four doors, do they?). Nor that it targeted Mercedes Benz CLS, but in marketing sometimes you do the trick of dropping the name of an established player hoping buyers will subconsciously associate the benefits they already carry in their heads of the latter to the former.

VW didn’t lie – it was named Passat CC and everyone knew this by the model designation. Of course naming “Passat” back then was needed to establish positioning of the car, but also it was telling the truth. Perhaps you don’t even recall how later in the model’s lifespan VW dropped “passat” from the model name and left only “CC”.

And now in Geneva they took it even further. Actually there, where it was originally planned. VW introduced the new model name Arteon, hoping customers would pay the premium (in Germany from ~35tEUR) which VW couldn’t charge if links to Passat remained (in Germany from ~27tEUR). But I really hoped it would look more different inside, be more brave outside which it simply wasn’t and it didn’t grow on me during whole year seeing them on the streets. Although I do like the brave color scheme available for this model!