Since VW is planning to go ahead with a second-generation Phaeton, speculating on what it might look like could be pretty interesting.
The Phaeton is a somewhat controversial car. It’s terribly unpopular for how excellent it can be from a technical perspective, and incredibly understated for how comfortable and luxurious once you step inside.
Recently, it’s even been called “the nicest car never to turn a single head” – which isn’t completely true, but it does touch on a very important aspect. VW was never going to challenge BMW, Mercedes and Audi with a premium product in terms of popularity, and that ended up hurting it.
It’s when we put together all these things that we realize how controversial the Phaeton is. What this means is that an all-new model will automatically become a pretty big deal in the eyes of the public, especially if VW can price it competitively.
Nowadays, the industry should definitely be more ready for a new luxury product in this segment, though edging out the Audi A8, Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7-Series is a mission even Ethan Hunt at his best wouldn’t accomplish. VW hopes the new Phaeton won’t need to do so, because it should be able to stand all on its own.
Let’s speculate for a second that it would come out looking a lot like this rendering, which combines the VW C Coupe GTE’s design features with the shell of the Audi A8. The overall design seems modern enough, not ground-breaking but coherent and subtle. Perhaps, second time around, the Phaeton will make more customers take notice not in spite, but because it won’t be turning heads. Understatement is a virtue some value quite a lot.
Renderings courtesy of Theophilus Chin
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