Rendered Speculations + Spy Shots: Volkswagen Passat "Coupe"
In case you've been wondering what would happen if a VW Eos and a Mercedes CLS were left in a garage overnight with some oysters and an open bottle of Spanish Fly, VW has your answer: the Passat 4-door-coupe. It's essentially got the new Mercedes tri-sectioned face with Eos overtones, and a CLS body reworked to VW proportions. Neither parent is really flattered in the mash-up. If nothing else, it is supposed to raise the stakes in VW's interior quality campaign.
Motors will start at the 1.4-liter TSI that also appears in the Golf and Tiguan, with diesels to include the 2.0-liter common rail variant. The car is scheduled to bow next year, perhaps at Geneva, and be in showrooms by the end of '08. Here's to hoping the sketch artists didn't get it quite right.
[Source: Auto Express]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
DJ 7:43PM (10/16/2007)
Holy sh*t, I'll take one in black with 4Motion please.
This is absolutely GORGEOUS! If the interior is anything like the Phaeton, it'll kill MB, Audi and BMW.
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Random Task 6:47AM (10/17/2007)
Until it Volkswagens up it's innards and ends up on a flatbed truck.
esoterica 7:46PM (10/16/2007)
Really? Looks like a CLS crossed with a last-gen Buick Riviera to me.
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the law 2:33PM (10/18/2007)
saturn/opel GTC concept
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Xcountryflyer 7:57PM (10/16/2007)
VW should focus on improving their current models and keeping weight and costs down and reliability up. Their cars are getting too high on the top-end to compete with BMW, MB, Audi, etc.
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mk 8:07PM (10/16/2007)
If it has four doors it is not a coupe.
Sport Sedan, I'll buy.
That is like calling something a two-legged quadroped. It is an oxymoron.
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apearlman 9:18PM (10/16/2007)
Agreed.
Kudos, VW! So when I tell my dealer I'm interested in the Passat, he wil ask, "Do you prefer the 4-door or the other 4-door?"
I think VW wants to call this sedan a "coupe" because "sedan with reduced rear-seat headroom for the sake of styling" doesn't sound as enticing.
Dazza 11:49PM (10/16/2007)
A coupe does not necessrily have to have two doors, although the vast majority are. Coupes are generally determined by the amont of interior volume compared with regular three-box sedans. As such, the majority have 2+2 seating intead of room for 4 or 5 adults.
Calebe 7:42AM (10/17/2007)
Agreed. Who came up with that? Coupe is a 2 door. No way around it. So if we slant the back of a Tahoe is it now a coupe?
Ligor 9:04AM (10/17/2007)
not even Sport Sedan
no RWD no Sport Sedan title
it's just a cramped up sedan from VW and good luck on that maintenance
mk 11:26AM (10/17/2007)
Are you people kidding?
Have you looked it up? I did long ago.
Oxford Dictionary:
coupé: /koopay/ (also coupe /koop/)
• noun; a car with a fixed roof, two doors, and a sloping rear.
— ORIGIN originally denoting an enclosed carriage for two passengers and a driver: from French carrosse coupé ‘cut carriage’.
Miriam Webster Dictionary:
Main Entry:
cou·pé Variant(s): or coupe \kü-ˈpā, 2 often ˈküp\
Function: noun
Etymology: French coupé, from past participle of couper to cut, strike
Date:1825
1: a four-wheeled closed horse-drawn carriage for two persons inside with an outside seat for the driver in front
2: usually coupe : a 2-door automobile often seating only two persons; also : one with a tight-spaced rear seat — compare sedan.
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NOTE, both definitions list it as a two door automobile, regardless of how many seats, which is somewhat variable, and is derived from the french word for a cut-down carriage, that is smaller than normal.
Re-defining the word to be something other than it is is a dilution of the language and meaning.
So when does a coupe mean anything that looks slightly sleek, even if it has 16 doors? Hopefully never.
As I said, this concept, and the CLS, etc... can be called sport sedans, or to coin a NEW term for it. Co-opting an already defined term, re-defining it on a whim, and diluting the language is not a good precedent to follow, even if it is being followed throughout the culture, otherwise.
Craig 1:32PM (10/17/2007)
TOTALLY AGREE!
These car companies need to stop trying to make up segments... SUV, CUV, SAV, 4-door coupe, and the list keeps growing. What's next? The 2-wheeled tricycle... give me a break.
It's a contradiction in terms.
Jimbo 8:09PM (10/16/2007)
Wow, that's awful. The RWD proportions of the CLS just don't transfer well to a FWD platform. There doesn't appear to be much head clearance for the rear doors and the front overhang is way too long.
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simianspeedster 8:22PM (10/16/2007)
I hope that's not accurate because it's god awful.
This strategy makes you wonder what VW is thinking. The Passat is already selling poorly because it's overpriced relative to its perceived competition, especially when loaded with the VR6 and 4-Motion. VW would like us to believe that a Passat is a 5-Series and E Class competitor, but most potential buyers don't see it that way -- they see the Passat as a Camry and Accord competitor.
So, does VW really think that changing the body style alone will somehow increase sales, especially when this car will probably cost a few thousand more than a loaded Passat? Maybe close to $45K??!?!
I don't see how this car has any chance of success or how it gets VW any closer to their core brand image.
-SimianSpeedster
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Alex 9:11PM (10/16/2007)
the thoughts "ehh" and "meh" come to mind when looking at this.
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Stealth E34 9:45PM (10/16/2007)
Looks like the VW Passé Coupe to me...
Dave 10:08PM (10/16/2007)
I didn't know that Dodge sold VW the tooling for the Intrepid.
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- 10:02PM (10/16/2007)
Like it or not Japan has the greatest influence ever in modern car designs. Westerners are light years behind the land of the rising sun when it comes to cutting edge futuristic designs.
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FThorn 6:44AM (10/17/2007)
lmao
Richard Warren 11:52AM (10/17/2007)
Agreed on the strict "Coupe" idea, however, technically---
A coupe is a car body style with a close-coupled interior offering either two seats or 2+2 seating (space for two passengers up front and for two occasional passengers in the rear). Through the 1950s convertible models were sometimes called convertible coupés, but since the 1960s the term coupé has generally been applied exclusively to fixed-roof models. Coupés generally, but not necessarily, have two doors, although automobile makers have offered four-door coupés and three- and five-door hatchback coupés, as well. Modern coupés generally have the styling feature of frameless doors, with the window glass sealing directly against a weather-strip on the main body.
The SAE distinguishes a coupé from a sedan (saloon) primarily by interior volume; SAE standard J1100 defines a coupé as a fixed-roof automobile with less than 33 ft³ (0.93 m³, 934 L) of rear interior volume. A car with a greater interior volume is technically a two-door sedan, not a coupé, even if it has only two doors.
A coupe is distinguished from a two-door sedan by the lack of a "B" pillar to support the roof.
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