Volkswagen enters coupe crossover brawl with Atlas Cross Sport

Volkswagen has become the latest automaker to enter the rapidly growing coupe crossover segment with the unveiling of the all-new Atlas Cross Sport.

As its name suggests, the Cross Sport is based on Wolfsburg’s flagship seven-seat SUV sold in North America since 2016, but with a sloping roofline and more rounded rear facia that mirrors the concept shown in New York last year.

Like the regular Atlas, which is sold in China as the Teramont, the Cross Sport is based on the Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous MQB platform, but with the biggest change being it’s dimensions where the overall length has been shortened by  71 mm to 4 966 mm and the height dropped by 58 mm to 1 710 mm.

While the wheelbase and width are kept unchanged at 2 979 mm and 1 979 mm respectively, the Cross Sport loses its sibling’s third row thus leaving five seats, with boot space being rated at 1 141-litres, although flipping the rear seats forward frees up an additional 1 062-litres of packing space.

Aside from the stockier appearance, the Cross Sport is otherwise unchanged from the ‘standard’ Atlas with the line-up consisting out of eight trim levels; S, SE, SE Tech, SE Tech R-Line, SEL, SEL R-Line SEL Premium and SEL Premium R-Line, powered by a choice of two petrol engines; a 2.0 TSI producing 175kW/350Nm and a 3.6 VR6 that punches out 206kW/360Nm.

On both model, drive is routed to the front wheels via an eight-speed Tiptronic gearbox, though the VR6 has the option of 4Moton all-wheel-drive along with a towing package that allows it to tow up to 2 268 kg.

Despite a report from goauto.com.au last year that the Atlas was being considered for right-hand-drive markets, the Cross Sport, which will be called Teramont X in China, will, for now, be offered solely in left-hand-drive and produced at the same Chattanooga Plant in Tennessee as its sibling and the US-spec Passat.

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