Photo: Auto Ifeng
Like most significant automotive brands, Volkswagen is working on models designed specifically for the Chinese market, which is the biggest in the world. People's tastes in cars are different there to those in Europe or America, and it seems VW wants to cater to demand for minivans by making a model called the Viloran.
How do they even come up with these names? The Viloran can be seen in these photos flashing its naked rear from its plate atop a small car carrier. However, we can also see small parts of the front end, which looks suspiciously like the Touareg SUV.
Volkswagen has the Multivan passenger version of the Transpower to basically do the same job - shuttling lots of people. However, the Viloran is clearly designed to be both more posh and luxurious as well. This market must be pretty lucrative because Lexus also recently revealed a minivan model of its own, and it was pretty expensive.
But while the Lexus LM was low and sleek, this is a bit more crossover-like, featuring fender flares, rugged trim around the bumpers and quite a bit of ground clearance. But we kind of expected a model like this to come out, based on the recent SMV Concept.
Like the SMV, the Viloran should be based on the MQB platform, possibly the biggest car yet to be underpinned by it, outstretching the Atlas by a little bit for the sake of its 3rd-row passengers' legroom.
The logo on the back reads "380 TSI" which Chinese media says is linked to a 2-liter turbocharged engine with direct injection sending 220 horsepower and 350 Nm of torque to the front wheels via an 8-speed automatic gearbox. Production will be taken care of by the VW-SAIC joint venture and you can expect to see this in your local North American or European dealership... never.
If those spy photos and SMV concept don't do it for you, we also have a couple of renderings from the website Kolesa, possibly because the car will be available in parts of Russia too.
Volkswagen has the Multivan passenger version of the Transpower to basically do the same job - shuttling lots of people. However, the Viloran is clearly designed to be both more posh and luxurious as well. This market must be pretty lucrative because Lexus also recently revealed a minivan model of its own, and it was pretty expensive.
But while the Lexus LM was low and sleek, this is a bit more crossover-like, featuring fender flares, rugged trim around the bumpers and quite a bit of ground clearance. But we kind of expected a model like this to come out, based on the recent SMV Concept.
Like the SMV, the Viloran should be based on the MQB platform, possibly the biggest car yet to be underpinned by it, outstretching the Atlas by a little bit for the sake of its 3rd-row passengers' legroom.
The logo on the back reads "380 TSI" which Chinese media says is linked to a 2-liter turbocharged engine with direct injection sending 220 horsepower and 350 Nm of torque to the front wheels via an 8-speed automatic gearbox. Production will be taken care of by the VW-SAIC joint venture and you can expect to see this in your local North American or European dealership... never.
If those spy photos and SMV concept don't do it for you, we also have a couple of renderings from the website Kolesa, possibly because the car will be available in parts of Russia too.
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