Volkswagen announced pricing on their V.W. Atlas and it starts out at $35,500 and tops out near $48,490.
If affordable three-row SUV’s was a party and the party ends at 1 A.M. the 2018 V.W. Atlas pretty much showed up at midnight. Although late to the party, the 2018 V.W. Atlas is here and now we have pricing. According to Volkswagen in an official press release they dropped earlier today (Apr. 4,2017) the Atlas will start out at $35,500 with trim levels pushing that MSRP close to $50,000. While the Volkswagen Atlas won’t dethrone such three-row SUV kings like the Ford Explorer, and Mazda CX-9, the Atlas will sell well enough where each Atlas sold will bring much-needed profits to V.W.’s drained coffers.
- $30,500 is the starting price and gets you a lot. First, there’s the engine. Standard is V.W.’s 2.0L turbocharged four cylinder putting out 235 HP and 258 lb-ft. You get 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a rear-view camera, and premium audio.
- The Atlas S launch at $33,500 (only available at launch) gets you into their N.A .V6 with 276 HP and 266 lb-ft. $2000 more and you get AWD. S Launch adds a sunroof, footwell lighting and a few other extras.
- Atlas SE starts at $33,590. In addition to S trim you get heated door mirrors, auto headlights, rain sensing wipers, blind spot monitoring, fog lights, push button start, leatherette seating and powered seats. In addition, you get a bigger infotainment screen and more speakers.
- Atlas SE with technology starts at $35,690 and adds a host of technologies aimed at making driving on the highway easier. That means adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning.
- Atlas SEL includes SE with technology and starts at $39,160. You get such niceties like a power liftgate, 8-way passenger seats and memory seats amongst other standard options.
- Atlas SEL premium starts out at $48,490 and tops the range. Only on this trim level do you get V.W.’s 12.3-inch digital cockpit, 20-inch alloy wheels, navigation, LED taillights, power folding mirrors, puddle lights and real leather seats.
We’ve only highlighted list items worth mentioning on the trim levels and you can read up on what each trim level has by going to V.W.’s official press release here.
As far as sales projections on our part we can safely predict that the Atlas will sell extremely well. The Ford Explorer holds the throne at the moment with Ford managing to sell a whopping 23,424 units in March. Hyundai’s Santa Fe will always be the value leader as they managed to sell a respectable 11,446 units last month. This is where the Atlas might land, dethroning the Santa Fe. Dodge Durango and Mazda CX-9 are competitors as well selling a couple thousand units each but the Atlas’s strong MSRP should be enough to compete against those two.
Dieselgate is still lingering in our collective memories of V.W. and although it leaves a bad taste in our mouth the American public is quick to forgive and forget. The 2018 V.W. Atlas should be a quality product with a good reputation right off the bat. You can expect to see numerous Atlas’s showing up in your neighborhood in the near future. The 2018 Atlas hits dealership floors in May.
