Browse over 9,000 car reviews

2022 Volkswagen Arteon price and features: Skoda Octavia RS, Mazda 6 Turbo and Hyundai Sonata N Line rival to return before year's end

Volkswagen expects no roaring sales success for the Arteon, but says it's important to have a flagship for the brand.

Volkswagen’s Arteon mid-sizer will return to Australian shores around October, with the brand revealing full pricing and specs for the updated flagship fastback sedan and Shooting Brake wagon at the launch of its Golf 8 hatch.

The Arteon sits perched above the Passat as the halo product in VW’s non-SUV line-up and kicks off with an MSRP of $59,990 for the 140TSI Elegance fastback, which pairs a 140kW/320Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission - as featured in other vehicles like the T-Roc small SUV. Meanwhile, the attractive Shooting Brake will wear an MSRP of $61,990.

The Elegance variants have an overhauled interior - designed to further remove them from the related Passat sedan range - which features the full digitisation from other new VW products, including the Virtual Cockpit digital instrument cluster, a head-up display and a 9.2-inch multimedia system.

The Arteon range will also gain the full safety suite from the Golf 8 range, 19-inch alloy wheels, adaptive chassis control, full LED headlights and tail-lights, ambient interior lighting, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and push-start ignition as well as full synthetic leather interior trim with heated and ventilated front seats in a choice of black or beige.

The Arteon is set to come fully equipped from the base Elegance up. The Arteon is set to come fully equipped from the base Elegance up.

The halo R-Line, meanwhile, ups the ante, powered by a 206kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine as also featured in R-Line variants of the Passat. It drives all four wheels via the brand’s 4Motion all-wheel-drive system and a six-speed dual clutch automatic transmission.

The R-Line fastback has an MSRP of $66,990, while the Shooting Brake wears an MSRP of $68,990. The R-Line gains ‘carbon’ leather-clad interior trim with bespoke bucket-style seats with 14-way power adjust for front passengers, 20-inch alloy wheels, a more aggressive set of R-Line bodywork, and the same high-end digitisation and safety suite as the base Elegance.

The only option on either variant is a panoramic sunroof at $2000 (not including luxury car tax), with colour choices included in the price except for a pearlescent white shade which wears a $800 price tag.

VW openly admits that the Arteon is not set for mainstream success – nor is its smaller Passat sibling – but the brand is excited that it has the scope to bring more “interesting” products to our market regardless – especially the even more niche Shooting Brake. “It’s valuable for us to have it as a halo product,” it said.

The fastback and shooting brake wagon bodystyles will be offered across both variants. The fastback and shooting brake wagon bodystyles will be offered across both variants.

The brand is in “deep consideration” on the popular-in-Europe plug-in hybrid model, which up until this point has been incompatible with Australia’s lax fuel standards.

VW product and services manager Jeff Shafer explained if such a model were to arrive, there would be a several-year lead time on it, at which point the brand would have to reassess if such a model was right for our market.

The Arteon will arrive in “early Q4 of 2021”, likely for a 2022 model year as part of an expansive rollout of new or updated Volkswagen products over the next year.

Volkswagen Arteon 2022 price (MSRP)

 FastbackShooting Brake
140 TSI Elegance$59,990$61,990
206 TSI R-Line$66,990$68,990