There’s an all-new Volkswagen Atlas coming for 2027, and I’m excited because I think this is the first company press release for a new car (or SUV or whatever) I’ve read that specifically makes a point to note how dynamic their turn signals are, and that they have three animations. You may think I’m being sarcastic here, but I’m not. I genuinely appreciate interesting turn-indicator developments, and VW definitely is delivering on that here.
I mean, I think they are? They just mentioned those three animations, but that was it. No pictures or videos just yet.
As far as the rest of the new Atlas, it looks like this second-gen one is continuing in the direction of the first: a big, modern SUV for the American market. It’s got some new features, some new fancy tech stuff, 13 more horsepower, an all-new design and, according to VW, “real wood.”
This is an evolutionary sort of change, not revolutionary, but that makes sense since Atlas has been a good seller for VW. The Atlas will still be built in VW’s Chattanooga, Tennessee plant, which makes sense considering all the tariffs and whatnots. The SUV is based on the new MQB Evo platform, which was first introduced with the latest Tiguan. The new platform should provided an easier path to hybrid versions of these cars, and, like the Tiguan, uses VW’s trusty EA888 2-liter turbocharged engine, now in EA888 Evo5 form, which makes 282 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque.
That’s the most power an Atlas has ever had, if you were keeping a journal. Also, look how low-set that engine is in the engine bay; it must be some pedestrian protection thing:
It’ll tow 5,000 pounds, so that means you’ll likely need to opt for a female hippo instead of a male, but most consumers in the Atlas’ target demographic are generally able to find that a female hippo meets most of their day-to-day hippopotamus needs. For Atlas customers that actually do need regular access to a male hippo, there are Atlas owners’ groups that will have a co-owned male hippo available to all members based on a time-sharing plan and housed at a central, shared location.
So far, Volkswagen does not have an official plan to address the fact that the Atlas is generally not capable of towing an adult male hippopotamus, though there are unconfirmed reports that VW has been testing towing adolescent male hippos with Atlases, and this could form the basis of a work-around. We’ll keep looking into this issue.
The redesign of the Atlas isn’t necessarily radical, but it is significant. Most notable are the lighting changes, which are quite pronounced and fit with VW’s evolving design language. The new Atlas is above; the outgoing one is below:
There’s been some simplification and elimination of detail and trim in the update. The little angled kick by the D-pillar window is gonbe, as is much of the brightwork and trim around the grilles, upper and lower. There’s a few less character lines and the grille and overall front end have been simplified and cleaned up as well.
There’s now a dual illuminated bar motif on the grille, with the lower one bisected by an illuminated VW logo. The base model will lack the illuminated bars, I’m told by the press release. The lower grille is interesting, as it lacks a strong visual lower border, which reduces the visual thickness of the front, making it appear to kick up dramatically in the middle. I like that.
The lighting design is now based on a series of blocks that seem to form the DRLs (and maybe those turn indicators? It’s not clear yet), and this motif continues to the rear:
The lighting design is now a grid of rectangles, forming angled sides under a full-width red light bar and red-illuminated VW logo.
I like the taillight design from what I can see so far; I’m curious if it’ll have amber rear indicators.
One thing I’m not crazy about is what the press release describes as
“At the back, the spoiler is more pronounced, and the tailgate lies flush with the rear bumper, for a more modern shape.”
This feels like a bad idea, because a tailgate flush with the rear bumper means the tailgate is vulnerable in impacts to the rear. It looks like the bumper juts out a bit beyond the tailgate, which is good, but I’d like more protection there, not less, as a careless low-speed roll back into a pole or something should put my tailgate latch at risk.
There are 20 and 21-inch alloy wheel options and the entry-level car rolls on 18-inch wheels.
It looks handsome enough, I guess, dignified and slightly imposing. I think I’d still lose it in a Target parking lot, but for the target market, it seems good, and I do think the styling updates were welcome.
Based on this picture from VW’s press kit, an R version will be available, so that’s fun.
VW seems to have spent the most effort on the interior, and seems to have had the most fun with ambient interior lighting:
“Innovating ambient lighting sets sophisticated tone. A 10-color setup is standard, and thetop two trims receive 30 color options; a standard “Atmospheres” feature coordinates lighting and audio settings. On most trims, the ambient lighting flows through the dashboard loop and front footwells. The top two trims add an organic spiral pattern to the dash, which twists and morphs through innovative perforated backlit door panels in the first and second rows.”
That’s fun, right? Why not. I’m not sure if this is what makes people decide to buy a particular car or not, but it does add some flavor, and I’m all for that.
VW says there are three interiror color palettes available: “an airy pebble grey, a moody black and dark grey,” which I take to mean there are no actual interior colors available. Just three kinds of gray.
There’s some of that real wood, though! That’s nice! And the ambient lighting adds some color into those non-color color options for the interior.
The seats look nice, and there’s three rows of them:
Front…
…back…
…and, of course, way back. Even that way back seat looks pretty decent?
The seats seem to fold nice and flat, making a pretty even loading/sleeping/baby hippo resting surface with all the seats folded.
All the expected electronic candy is there, with 12.9 or 15-inch screens, which would have been decent kitchen TV sizes back in the day, and there’s a standard 9-speaker audio system with an option for 14 Sparkomatic speakers. I’m kidding, they’re Harmon Kardon speakers. Sparkomatic doesn’t exist anymore.
Look! That’s one of the speakers right there!
There’s power windowshades now, too, for enhanced privacy! Enjoy all the nose-picking you’d like with these babies up!
There’s a Level 2 driver assist system with driver-initiated lane change ability, but what I find most interesting is this:
“Emergency Assist can now guide the vehicle to the side of the road if it senses a medical emergency.”
Semi-automated vehicles being able to pull off an active traffic lane has proven elusive for a long time, so I’m very curious to learn more about this. I’ll reach out to VW for more information and, hopefully, some testing.
Overall, this seems to be a well-considered update to VW’s largest SUV, and I suspect it’ll do pretty well for Volkswagen. I suspect we’ll get a chance to drive it and test one out before too long, so we should know more. Pricing is not revealed yet, nor is an actual date for when it’ll be in dealer lots. Will there be a new Atlas Cross Sport two-row version? Maybe?
I’ll report back when I get a statement from VW regarding the male hippo situation.
It’s way too big, but the new grille/fascia/lighting in front is a big improvement. And the mood lighting is fun.
Can turn signals just be turn signals? Be amber, and flash normally. I can’t stand the stupid sequential turn signals that are becoming more common. The BMW turn signals that gradually brighten before cycling off are more tolerable, but I still don’t like them. A turn signal should flash on and off, no gradual dimming or brightening.
And now VW is doing some kind of animated BS? Turn signals are safety devices, and as such, they should function the same on every car. Safety devices are not a place where automakers should try to be cute or different.
For me the BMW ones always look like they are broken.
Mazda has done it quite nice, very smooth transition between on/off.
But I totally agree to the rest of your comment. It’s getting quite annoying.
> For me the BMW ones always look like they are broken.
For cost reasons, BMW no longer builds turn signals and their circuitry into cars. Nobody’s complained so far.
I agree on the sequential – they’re very distracting. I disagree on the amber however – I remember when everyone wanted red lights, and they were glorious when they came out. Stick with red, but make it make sense.
“Semi-automated vehicles being able to pull off an active traffic lane has proven elusive for a long time, so I’m very curious to learn more about this. I’ll reach out to VW for more information and, hopefully, some testing.”
As long as you don’t use a medical emergency of your own for the testing. You’ve already had one cardiac event, no need for another one…
That low-set engine is also because it’s on a car platform with fake-tallness added.
Three row VW Atlas: looks like ass.
Two row VW Atlas Cross Sport: quite pleasant.
I’ll take my Sparkomatic speakers with a side of Kraco head unit, please.
And a cheap graphic equalizer with lit-up sliders that advertises 1000 watts per channel, most of it static.
1000 watts per channel, babycakes.
Some good friends of mine bought a three-year-old CPO low-mileage Atlas. The best thing about it is the large variety of loaner cars and rentals they get to try while the Atlas is in the shop, sometimes for multiple weeks. On the rare occasions when it works, it drives OK. The rest of the time, it’s a profoundly deep money pit.
Given V-dub’s propensity for electrical issues, anyone want to take bets on what percentage of the “cutting edge” LED lights on the new model will still work in five years? Or what a replacement touchscreen will cost in 2031?
Five years?
Lookie here, we’ve got ourselves an optimist.
Light-up grill and badge, animated tail lights, and plenty of gaudy interior LED lighting. Great to see that VW has the sense to is work hard on the stuff that makes a car actually good to own and drive. 😉
Someone at VW said ‘Lighting is the new chrome.’ Which I mean sure, but I didn’t rely on chrome to do my turn signaling and to be able to see at night…
It’s funny how the German brands are chasing this, when Honda etc made the deliberate choice to take latest Civic in a more mature, understated direction.
Apologies for the editing typo in my post above.
But I agree: the over-the-top gaudy use of interior and exterior LEDs seems most egregious on German ‘luxury’ brands. I’ve used the term “Latvian Whorehouse” to describe it, even though I know nothing about Latvia… I’m just assuming that in some respects, it’s sort like Russia was 15 years ago. If my American Ignorance is mistaken, I hereby apologize to any and all offended Latvians.
But jeez, I really hate all those glowing colored strips, dots, rings, and other assorted shapes on the dash, door cards, headliner, etc… of some newer cars. A bright screen (or multiple screens) at night is bad enough, but all that crap too!? It’s just ridiculous, outside of show cars not actually meant to be driven on public roads.
To me it’s more like a KTV bar.
I had to google that too. 😉
“VW has been testing towing adolescent male hippos with Atlases”
Might be worth noting how the model name references an ancient Roman mythological figure known for strength since there are anecdotes (most likely apocryphal) about some ancient Roman athletes training for the Olympics by lifting a newborn calf from day of birth and continuing to lift the calf every day until the calf was a fully-grown cow. Looks like that might be what VW is doing with those adolescent male hippos, they’re working their Atlases up to towing fully-grown male hippos.
thank you for saying what we were all thinking.
I actually did that with my dog, up thru his current 130 pounds. I didn’t know about the roman training thing, I just was interested to see how fast he would grow and when, and no one had that data.
Some here are seeing a connection between hippos and VW Atlases along the lines of being needlessly large, lumbering and likely to be unpredictable as well as troublesome to have at your home.
Am I the only one who sees the smiley clown face in the inner steering wheel design with the two main instruments as the eyes? Once I saw it, I could not unsee it! It’s creepy, yet fun and funny!
Crap, now I can’t unsee it!
As a man approaching his 50’s, I’m happy to say that I, too, (still) have real wood.
Wait till you’re in your 60’s.
The more real wood the better.
But no real human skin.
Ive been waiting for weeks for you to do a story on the Atlas with a photo from the press event, somewhere with snow, apparently, just so I could complain that VW wasn’t going to sell one that actually looked as good as the one at the event.
Stupid boring no color at all no good black can’t see it at night paint. Echh
Why can’t we have the pretty cars?
We purchased a VW Atlas five years ago, and so far it has been bulletproof (knocks on wood). It was available in black, white, a blue that was so dark that it looked black, a red that looked like it drained from a gunshot wound, and two different shades of grey. In short, it was available in no fun colors, and we settled for black with a contrasting camel faux-leather interior.
We took the car home, and when I found a quiet moment I slipped the owner’s manual from the protective pouch. On the covering was a rendering of a beautiful gold Atlas, a shade that was not available to purchase.
Maybe it’s an Easter egg for the .02% of users who actually RTFM.
I just want to meet the sales guy from whatever supplier is still selling VW their all shit touchscreen infotainment and HVAC system. Guy must be a god. VW continues to get shit on about lack of buttons yet continues to stick with touch screen for almost everything (except on the steering wheel, which is like the bare minimum).
Well that’s ugly inside and out. Though I see they have gone back to (too many) actual buttons on the steering wheel at least. Harman/Kardon doesn’t REALLY exist anymore either other than as a licensing operation.
And I will make my usual turnsignal comment- I don’t care if they are amber, red, polka dot, have multiple animations, or display flashing panda bears or boobs, I just want people to actually USE THE GD THINGS! Any sort of flashing something to indicate which way you MIGHT be going is fine with me, just give me a hint of SOME kind.
Here’s a good use of AI – if the car feels you are making a turn without using the signals, it gives you a 50K volt taser shot to the ass.
I’d drive the pretty one.
I admit that the wheels are uninspired and do not live up to the rest of the theme.
To each his own. That is waaaay too much for me. I love color in a car, but not ALL the colors, ALL at once!
Though I will say, like WWI dazzle camouflage it certainly disguises the uninspiring shape of the thing rather well.
Not sure why the camo was even necessary given that the identical Teramont has been on sale in China since *checks notes* last February. But I guess what happens in China doesn’t exist anywhere else, or something.
And blinks the turn signal for you.
That would negate the lesson, IMHO. Idiots might just be so lazy they accept the zap.
How many times was the word “nice” used here? Zero even modest critique, it sure looks like The Autopian will be getting invited to the press trip… 🙂
There is no good reason why VWs entire lineup isn’t hybridized by now, let’s stop making apologies for it or soft-pedaling it. They actually had two or three in the U.S. back around 2012 (Jetta, Touareg, and maybe one other? No? Not sure…but at least those two. And then, nothing). But anyway, it’s a decade and a half later and NO hybrids to be seen and one dud EV that was just pulled from the market.
I’ve bought two brand-new VWs over my lifetime and owned (and generally enjoyed) at least two or three more, all watercooled, but currently there is absolutely nothing of interest that someone else isn’t doing (a lot) better.
VW, just pull out completely already, you’ve gone completely flaccid.
Pointing out the lack of ability to tow male hippos was a pretty scathing critique. Imagine limiting how much towing limited to female or only adolescent males is going to drive down demand.
The Autopian’s invite to the next press trip + safari may be getting lost in the mail…
Ze Germans suck at electron wrangling, probably best to stick with straight up ICE with them in general.
I’ve bought two new VWs, one diesel, one not, zero desire to buy anything they currently flog, and propulsion has zero to do with that (the engines are fine, what they bolt them into these days – eesh). That they are hideous inside and out with user interfaces designed by the insane is the reason. I’d buy another ’17 GTI Sport tomorrow. It had a touchscreen, but it wasn’t terrible and only did very non-essential things in a not completely annoying way.
I don’t know if Ze Germans suck at electron wrangling, is it Robert Bosch or Joseph Lucas who is known as prince of darkness? Sadly Ercole Marelli is hardly remembered at all much less Frank and Perry Remy Nates.
Lucas had a quality control problem, not a design problem. The Germans have a design problem. They make crappy designs with excellent quality control.
And Lucas at least had the excuse that their crap was cheap.
Um, did you not see my rant about the inability to tow a male hippo? Also, I think whatever praise I had was pretty tepid. It seems fine for what it is? I think the styling is an improvement, but I’ll hold judgement ’til I drive it.
I did see that and nobody at VW has even seen a hippo outside of a zoo so they won’t understand or learn from it. If you want to tow, you need to wait for the VW version of the Scout twins but since VW can’t/won’t do electrons well, not sure if just another EA888 variant is gonna be enough for those…
Somewhat tepid sure, but overall wamly positive enough rather than: the styling has barely evolved from horrible and not syncing with anything else in the lineup to the same but slightly smoother but still identity-less, why does VW think itself to be aspirational enough of a brand to show off with lit-up badging in any trim level, is 258lb-ft of torque remotely enough to move this thing with any kind of alacrity AND tow a sub-5000lb anything, power sunshades is a bad idea for a company with demonstrated knack for not properly engineering anything powered within a door (ID.4 handle mechanisms, MkIV window regulators, etc) and doubly so when “tint” was invented decades ago as a pretty much foolproof interior cloaking device, and the list goes on.
I do issue a mea culpa for not crediting your mentioning of the tailgate issue that you pointed out quote properly as a simply sub-par design that the average VW owner WILL care about when they see the repair bill for a replacement tailgate due to an almost imperceptible impact.
It’s just…blah. Lower resale value than Honda and Toyota, more warranty hassles, no way is this an engaging drive as VWs used to be so why not go Japanese, no real improvement besides some real wood that Audi has left over since their pwn sales nosedived, etc. It’s VWs version of a Traverse.
Speaking of aspirational branding, I noticed their recent TV ads tout VW as being the least expensive German brand sold in America. Like that’s a good thing? German cars are known to be maintenance nightmares. Being least expensive means corners were cut somewhere. Not a good thing when VWs are already unreliable. I guess VW feels they can fool consumers into thinking they’re getting a discount German luxury car.
Isn’t Mini less expensive?
Hmm apparently Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce are all German, Jeep and Maserati are Dutch according to this https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/car-brands-available-in-america
I mean, they haven’t even seen the damn thing IRL. What’s the alternative to just saying a few nice things? Complain about the fact that it’s not a hybrid and then mention that the company makes unreliable cars? Sometimes a bit of pleasant optimism is ok.
If a carmaker’s use of certain features was conditional on their ability to build it well, VW and Alfa would be making dandy horses.
Or in the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln; “For those who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like” which is pretty hard to argue with.
It reads to me like “nice” is used less as a compliment and more as a statement of mediocrity in this review.
Nice try.
Have you ever look up nice in the dictionary?
It starts out with ignorant, foolish, cowardly, absurd, lazy, dissolute, lascivious, ostentatious, extravagant, elegant, precise, effeminate, meticulous, fussy, refined, strict, cultured, fastidious, virtuous, respectable, tasteful, proper, fragile, precise, pampered, strange, shy, modest, reluctant, complicated, subtle, exact, insubstantial, trivial, attentive, sensitive, dexterous, critical, risky, and attentive. And so on for quite a while. Nice is one of the few words that is its own antonym.
And a town in France!
Oh, here go look for yourself
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/nice_adj
It was very nice of you to do the research and post that information.
Apart from allowing headspace for the inevitable hybrid (seriously, just launch it with one, don’t do a Mazda). The head space is definitely because they have to have a big, tough exterior and you end up with a huge engine bay volume. I mean look at any GM truck for at least the last decade, the engine is wayyyyy down in there.
Thank you for reporting that the seats fold dead flat.
Yikes the new atlas with 30% more generic Nissan styling.
As someone who works at a VW dealership, I sure hope they get this one right from the get go. The ’24 Atlas refresh was problematic and the new Tiguan said “hold my beer”. I honestly think if they don’t get this one right the future doesn’t look bright.
VW’s commitment to using that engine, regardless of vehicle size, is impressive.
I’m sure it’s available in MAN trucks to.
I’m picking up a vibe that Jason, like myself, feels like merging into traffic involves hippos. Has to be unnerving in his 1/8th power/weight choices.
“Real wood” is exactly what I don’t have for the new Atlas…
This seems fine? It’s certainly an improvement. The current Atlas never felt particularly competitive but lately it’s felt completely outdated. It doesn’t help they have that coupe version lurking about, looking like absolute dogshit. Hopefully they don’t make that mistake again.
Calling the VW 2.0T “trusty” is a choice. Maybe it’s trusty like Brutus was trusty, until he very much was not trusty? More than likely the future owners are going to be saying “Et tu, EA888 water pump?” at their local VW dealer, just outside of warranty.
I’m sick and tired of carmakers ignoring us rhino users. Sure, hippopotamuseses may be more traditional, but some of us grew up without easy access.
No hybrid no care
The inability of VW to produce hybrid powertrains for their snoozy crossover lineup is going to be the final nail in the coffin for the brand in the US.
The Tiguan is rated at 25 combined and the current Atlas gets a measly 22. Even if you don’t give a shit about the environment I really have no clue how you choose one of these over a Honda or Toyota hybrid and get 10+ better, plus better reliability, PLUS better resale.
As someone who’s going to have to shop in this segment soon I cannot for the life of me understand who willingly picks a VW. Even if you get a screaming deal the significantly higher ownership costs are going to even things out sooner rather than later.
I cannot wrap my head around not buying a hybrid family hauler. It’s an absolute no-brainer and the fact that VAG still doesn’t have any hybrids is mind blowing to me. I get that they way, way, way overcommitted on EVs and delivered miserable ones on top of it, but holy shit…releasing an ICE only 4 cylinder family crossover in 2026 is lunacy.
I see the argument for going with a Honda V6 and sucking up the poor fuel economy for longevity and an engine with some actual character (the Pilot and Passport sound shockingly good for what they are), but putting up with similarly bad mileage for a freaking EA888 that could grenade itself at 60,000 miles?
Child please…..
But the pretty taillights….
The VW logo LIGHTS UP! WOW! And have you seen THE SCREENS?!?!