Volkswagen Introduced Its New Luxury Sedan, Only for China Market

Volkswagen unveiled its new luxury car, Phideon ahead of Geneva International Motor Show. The car will become successor of its previous model and will only be available in China.

Ahead of 2016 Geneva Motor Show, the Wolfsburg-Germany based company introduced its new Phideon luxury sedan today. Volkswagen expected Phideon to replace the less-favored Phaeton that will end the production in March.

Its predecessor, Phaeton was considered as a failure in Europe and North America, as its sales fell short of expectation. Named after a sun god in Greek mythology, since its intoduction in 2002, the car failed to compete with Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Lexus LS in comfort-oriented limousine class.

Phaeton was even dubbed as the Europe's biggest loss in making cars due to its poor sales. However, unexpectedly the car was sold quite well in Asia, particularly in China and South Korea. From this experience, Volkswagen aimed China as target market for a new line of luxury sedan, Phideon.

According to Business Insider, Phideon will be launched in the third quarter of 2016. Volkswagen's Chinese partner SAIC also provide design input for the car which aiming China's style-conscious consumer.

Phideon will be marketed as luxurious car targeting China's premium segment with positioning above VW Passat and VW Magotan, other popular models which also available in China. VW also explained, "The interior is tailored perfectly to the needs of the driver, with the Phideon's luxurious rear passenger compartment also making it an ideal chauffeur-driven limousine."

Head of Design at Volkswagen Klaus Bischoff, as quoted by Auto Mobile Magazine explained the car, "The new Phideon, with its equally powerful and charismatic front end, its flowing and yet precisely drawn lines and the exceedingly dynamic proportions, exudes premium style, while the Phideon's progressive design corresponds to the high level of its technical innovations."

Phideon will officially debut at Geneva International Motor Show later this week. The model is described as Volkswagen's new range-topping model, using Volkswagen's new Modular Longitudinal Matrix (MLB) platform. VW claimed its new platform resulted an extremely elegant yet dynamic body design.

Volkswagen Phideon will be available at two model. A front-wheel drive with 2.0-liter TSI four-cylinder engine, and an all-wheel-drive system with 3.0-liter turbocharged V-6 . The car is equipped with camera-based night vision system as Forbes reported.

Volkswagen begun its car making business in 1936 to build affordable car for common people, hence the name Volkswagen which mean "people's car." The company has scored three best-selling cars of all time, namely Volkswagen Golf, the Volkswagen Beetle, and Volkswagen Passat.

Today, the company introduced its new luxury car, Phideon. The car will be marketed at premium segment and will only be available in China, which expected to overcome the failure of its predecessor Phaeton.