It’s a four-door coupé the like of which has never been seen before in this vehicle class: the New Midsize Coupé concept car. Volkswagen has brought the concept car to Beijing for its world premiere at Auto China 2014. The ‘New’ part goes without saying: the New Midsize Coupé is as new as a new car can be. ‘Coupé’ is also unambiguous: the New Midsize Coupé is low in height (1,422 mm) and very wide (1,838 mm), it has a low visual centre of gravity, short overhangs, muscular shoulders and side sections, a dynamic roof line with markedly swept-back C-pillars, a short boot lid and long bonnet. ‘Midsize’ is less obvious.
It is normally the term for a car of the Passat class. However, the concept car is just 4,597 mm long and thus shorter than a Passat and shorter even than the Jetta. However, as mentioned the concept car outdoes the other two in terms of its width – and it is thus midsized. So clearly this concept car exhibits proportions of an extremely sporty nature. The team led by Volkswagen head designer Klaus Bischoff integrated these sharp proportions in a body design that makes the New Midsize Coupé a powerful and avant-garde proponent of a new, compact saloon class.
A saloon and a sports car
When viewed from the front and rear, it immediately becomes apparent that the designers have placed what is known as the “greenhouse”, the roof section with all windows, on a very muscular body frame. This strongly emphasises the powerfully modulated shoulder sections and large 20-inch wheels – which is a trait of high-class sports cars. The concept car is painted in “Dragon Red” colour; this brilliant red special effects paint is part of the total concept, because it highlights the powerful modulation of the body especially well. High-gloss black elements such as the roof surface with its integrated panoramic tilt/slide roof create a colour contrast.
Sporty interior with lots of room
Driver-focussed and fitted with leather sports seats, the interior too follows the dynamic concept of a coupé. Nonetheless, the New Midsize Coupé is in no way tight or constricted. Instead, it offers ample space for up to five people. The inner surfaces of the seats are designed in a bright “Silk” colour, while the outer areas form a contrast in the dark “Ebony Black”. The inner and outer surfaces are visually separated by elegant piping in “Dragon Red”, which is the body paint colour. Sophisticated interior elements include the trim strips in piano finish look and the many components trimmed in Alcantara such as the rooflining and the roof pillars. The controls, including the multifunction sports steering wheel and the infotainment system, are based on MQB-A (Modular Transverse Matrix A) and have thus been adapted from the current Golf. Combined with the axles and the width of MQB-B (the modules of the next larger vehicle class), the result is spacious conditions not just in the passenger compartment, but in the boot as well, which is of an excellent size with a capacity of 500 litres. Over and above this, Volkswagen is demonstrating with this concept coupé just how multifaceted the Modular Transverse Matrix is and what exciting models Volkswagen customers all over the world can look forward to over the next few years.
