Geneva Motor Show 2017: Volkswagen Arteon unveiled as flagship sedan positioned above Passat

German carmaker Volkswagen lifted the veils off Arteon, a five-door gran turismo, positioned above the current flagship sedan -- the Passat. The Arteon's design features a combination of a full-size sedan and a coupe at the rear.

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The Arteon is based on the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) platform and the car is not a takeoff from the current design philosophy of Volkswagen. It has incorporated chrome-plated cross-bars at the grille, which gives a contemporary twist to the front-end. The new grille and full-LED headlamp are integrated into a single cluster. A swooping roofline at the rear adds character to the Arteon. It has a fastback body style at the rear, unlike the boxy ones in regular sedans.

The Arteon comes with a wheelbase of 2,841mm. The sedan measures 4,862mm of length, 1,871mm in width and 1,427mm in height. On the interior, the new sedan is loaded with cruise control, six-way power adjustable front seats, leather steering wheel, stainless steel door kick plates and the Composition Media infotainment system with eight speakers.

Volkswagen also introduced three new technologies in the Arteon. The latest generation of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) in the sedan is now optimised for account data, such as speed limits and route information, and automatically adjusts driving speed accordingly. The navigation system's GPS with road data and cornering lights with predictive beam control anticipate when a bend is approaching and illuminate before the car reaches the turn. The second generation of Emergency Assist detects if the driver becomes incapacitated for health reasons and the system slows the car down within system limits.

The Arteon is offered with a range of six turbocharged direct fuel injection four cylinder engines. The first two power levels of the petrol (TSI) and diesel (TDI) engines are identical at 148bhp and 188bhp. The most powerful TSI delivers 278bhp, while the most powerful TDI produces 238bhp. The base petrol engine is the 1.5 TSI Evo that develops 148bhp. The entire engine is available in manual and automatic transmissions. For the TSI engines, DSG is standard for the 148bhp output and above. The most powerful TSI and TDI engines also have 4MOTION all-wheel drive as standard.