Updated Volkswagen Arteon makes its premiere

The new Arteon has made its world premiere alongside the new Arteon Shooting Brake.

At the front of the refreshed Arteon sits a long, wide hood that stretches across the entire front profile to the wheelarches to form the shoulder section.

An illuminated grille is now available as an added option. New LED daytime driving lights also now connect to a central light bar in the grille.

The lower section of the front splitter also now sports one less chrome bar for a more striking appearance.

At the rear, the Volkswagen badge and Arteon lettering have also been redesigned.

On the fastback model, the roof and window contours are swept down in parallel from the B-pillars and therefore become part of the coupe-shaped rear, while the roof and window lines are extended towards the rear on the Shooting Brake and end in a new roof spoiler. The bottom window line also move upwards on the Shooting Brake for a narrower and more striking rear window area.

A 2.0-litre turbocharged and direct-injection TSI engine has been confirmed for the U.S.A, making 264bhp and 350Nm of torque, with power taken to the front wheels via a standard eight-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic shifting.

European markets meanwhile, will also get a plug-in hybrid, delivering 215bhp, and a Volkswagen R-developed powertrain with 315bhp. An R-Performance torque vectoring system, which will distribute torque variably both between the axles and also between the rear wheels depending on the driving situation, has also been confirmed for the Arteon R.

On the inside, the Arteon has been equipped with a redesigned cockpit that has been refined to match the model's exclusive nature, while the fabrics and leather in the vehicle interior have also been upgraded. At the dash panel's top-most level, new leatherette surfaces stand out with new decorative seams.

A new multifunction steering wheel now features touch-sensitive surfaces which aid in detecting if the driver has his hand on the steering wheel for use with the Travel Assist driver assistance function.

The temperature in the Arteon can also now be set intuitively via a touch slider for the optional three-zone Climatronic automatic climate control. The same applies to the blower function in the manual mode. Seat heating, windscreen and window defrosting functions as well as other air conditioner regulations are also controlled using new touch-sensitive surfaces in the centre console.

The new Arteon is equipped with the Volkswagen Digital Cockpit, which allows the driver to configure the 10.25-inch instrument display. U.S.A bound models of the Arteon now adopt the all new MIB3 infotainment system, delivering as standard the 8.0-inch Discover Media system with navigation. MIB3 also offers natural voice control, multi-phone pairing that can easily switch between devices, and wireless App-Connect. Wireless charging is also new for 2021.

Volkswagen is also offering a newly developed, high-end sound system made by audio specialists harman/kardon for the very first time in the new Arteon. The system uses a 700W, 16-channel Ethernet amplifier to power a total of 12 high-performance loudspeakers. One loudspeaker acts as the centre speaker in the newly designed dash panel while another operates as a subwoofer in the trunk, while the remaining treble, mid-range, and bass loudspeakers have been arranged in the doors.

The Shooting Brake model delivers 565 litres of boot capacity, which expands to 1,632 litres with the rear seats folded. The equivalent figures for the Sportback stand at 563 litres and 1,557 litres.