The Volkswagen Phaeton is a very capable car. Originally conceived by the then Chairman of Volkswagen Group, the Phaeton was designed to be built like a tank that could travel at speeds of 300 km/hr the whole day. However, as a product competing against German luxury marquee’s like Mercedes, BMW and home brand Audi as well, the Phaeton could never sell as expected courtesy of the dated looks, lack of technology or simply put the competition was much better. The current generation Volkswagen Phaeton competes against the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7-Series, Jaguar XJ and the Audi A8 saloons.
Now, Volkswagen is looking to downsize the next generation Phaeton that would be competing against the Audi A6, BMW 5-Series and the Mercedes E-Class in the segment. While the current generation model costs north of $1,00,000 (Rs. 78.2 lakhs in India), the next generation model would cost almost half of that and could use a modified platform from the Audi A8 or the A6 saloons. The next generation Phaeton’s biggest markets will be America and China, and the car would be re-entering the American market, after stopping sales in 2009.
In terms of styling too, Volkswagen will make it more flamboyant to cater to the American market as opposed to the conservative styling seen on the current generation Phaeton. Volkswagen could also offer a plug-in hybrid version from the Touareg hybrid that could feature on the next generation Phaeton along with V6 and V8 petrol and diesel engine options. It is highly unlikely that Volkswagen will position the next generation Phaeton above the Audi A6, but it could be a rather larger and more spruced up version of the Passat in a four-door coupe form. The next generation Phaeton will be arriving in 2018.
