Arteon update gives VW shot to relaunch its top sedan in U.S.

Volkswagen’s refreshed 2021 Arteon sedan will get a much-improved interior and infotainment process along with styling adjustments that will set it on par with the additional high priced A5 sedan from sibling brand name Audi.

The Arteon, which replaced the CC in Volkswagen’s lineup and debuted in Germany in 2017, failed to go on sale in the U.S. until finally April 2019 simply because of delays around the implementation of a new world wide emissions screening program, acknowledged as WLTP.

The late start, which include delayed promoting, remaining an effects on gross sales in the U.S.: In the initially quarter, Volkswagen offered just 788 Arteons in the U.S. In 2019, gross sales tallied two,449 nationwide.

Hein Schafer, senior vice president for product promoting and method with Volkswagen of The us, explained the freshening gives the German brand name a likelihood to reset some of its missteps with the Arteon when it introduced very last yr, which include a promoting approach for a new nameplate that could have gotten missing in a crowded field.

“Our advertising marketing campaign could have been bigger,” Schafer explained. “Out of the gates, this individual phase is pretty very incentivized, and to be fairly honest, I imagine if we retrospectively glance, we probably could have experienced a minimal little bit additional funds to make positive that the car or truck leases pretty nicely.”

He extra that with the update, Volkswagen will offer additional standard machines and seems to be “to be a minimal little bit additional intense with the lease offers to get a minimal nearer to some of our rivals in the phase.”

The adjustments to the flagship sedan had been pushed by responses it obtained from Europe, and as a end result, the German brand name redesigned the sedan’s cockpit, upgraded the infotainment featuring — which include a new audio partnership with Harmon Kardon — improved the driver guidance choices, and upgraded cabin supplies. As aspect of the adjustments, Volkswagen simplified the trim levels for the 2021 Arteon in the U.S. to just a few: SE, SEL R-Line, and SEL Premium R-Line.