A full overhaul of VW’s flagship U.S.-market SUV is on the horizon.
When the Touareg originally rolled out of the U.S. market for good, Volkswagen replaced it with the first-generation Atlas. For nearly a decade now, that’s basically what we’ve had at the top of the brand’s American lineup, with a couple notable facelifts in 2021 and 2024. Now, though, we’re finally getting a second-generation Atlas, and VW is all too keen to tease some interesting bits before it makes its full debut at the New York Auto Show in a couple weeks.
On Friday, VW hinted at the new Atlas’ interior, which packs a host of ambient lighting behind the dashboard, instrument panel and door cards. This latest teaser comes a week after the automaker also teased the new model’s rear end, and journalists (including the TFL team, thanks to our man Kase) had an opportunity to look at the brightly-clad prototypes.
Now, while the company doesn’t want you to get a “full look” of the 2027 Atlas SUV just yet, we can cheat a little bit. That’s because, by and large, the 2027 Volkswagen Atlas looks virtually identical to the Chinese-market Termont Pro SUV, which launched last year. Before that, China also had its own version of the Atlas called the Teramont X, which originally rolled out in 2019.
From what we can see both outside and now inside, the North American-market Atlas is looks mightily similar to its Chinese counterpart, as you’d probably expect. Some minor details have changed — the Teramont Pro has a passenger screen that may or may not be available on U.S.-market models, and the pattern for the ambient lighting looks a bit different. Other than that, though, if you’re wondering what the new Atlas basically looks like, you need look no further than the images above (and the prototype video below, of course).
We’re still a little light on technical details.
The new model will keep running with the brand’s EA888 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Right now, it manages around 269 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque, and those figures will likely carry over or change slightly in the new generation. We also don’t know whether this three-row SUV will continue with a two-row Cross Sport variant. If it does keep kicking, though, you can expect more or less the same arrangement as what we have now, just with the same updates as the bigger SUV.
Check out more of the new Atlas prototype below, and stay tuned for more TFL Studios coverage from New York!
