Volkswagen Reveals Atlas, the Midsize Three-Row Crossover With VW's Future on Its Shoulders

The Atlas, Volkswagen’s entry into the hotly contested three-row crossover segment, is here — and it has the company’s future fortunes resting on its shoulders.

Volkswagen has not been doing well in the United States. Since 2012, its best sales year this millennia, VW has shed 30 percent of its sales volume. The brand that invented the compact car in the eyes of many Americans now finds itself in 14th place on the brand leaderboard with a 1.6 percent market share.

Dieselgate didn’t help, but its unbalanced product range may be the more nagging culprit. This is VW’s first mainstream, three-row crossover.

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The Name Game: Volkswagen's Manly Crossover Hero is Called 'Atlas'

A figure of Greek mythology with very strong back muscles will find his name plastered on Volkswagen’s upcoming three-row crossover.

According to Automobilwoche, German affiliate of Automotive News, Volkswagen has decided to name their high-hopes, Chattanooga-built model the Atlas.

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  • Lorenzo Why does every SUV look like a military assault vehicle? The 1968 Ford Fairlane wagon looked better!
  • Lorenzo On a long, multi-state trip, I use AM exclusively to find out what's going on in the area I'm passing through. What I've heard on AM radio has induced me to roll up my windows and lock the doors in certain areas!
  • Lorenzo Automakers have traditionally squeezed their suppliers. Japanese suppliers are part of the design team (and interlocking ownership) and build in economies. Chrysler tried that, viewing suppliers as partners, but Mercedes put a stop to it, and went back to squeezing suppliers down to razor thin margins.Henry Ford assured quality parts at a low price by making his own parts. Anti-trust laws forced Ford to spin off parts divisions and buy parts from independent suppliers. Maybe Ford should work to get the anti-trust laws changed, and put the Rouge complex back in business.
  • Lorenzo Given the quality of Chinese-made products available everywhere in America, any EVs or ICE vehicles are not likely to even approach the quality level of Japanese or Korean automakers. Who will lend money to buy a vehicle that won't last the length of the car loan? Who will insure it?
  • Flameded Well.. "Forced Neutral" (while not a great thing) sounds like it would be preferred over.. say.. "Forced Park", or .. "Forced Reverse".