At the time of its launch, in 2017, the Volkswagen Atlas was the biggest car sold by the German brand in the U.S. The full-size, seven-seat vehicle stormed the doors at the Los Angeles Auto Show in a special event at the Santa Monica Pier.

With respectable sales figures for the Volkswagen Touareg, the German car-maker decided to do one more step and offer a seven-seat SUV. The Touareg had only five and, somehow, that was seen as a problem. So, it took the MQB platform and used it at its max.

The front of the Atlas looked closer to the Amarok pickup-truck than to other Volkswagen vehicles. With the long, horizontal lines on the grille and new signature headlights, it had a different statement than the other Volkswagen vehicles. With its tall, long and wide bodywork, the Atlas looked impressive.

Inside, Volkswagen offered various amenities, including a high-tech instrument cluster named Volkswagen Digital Cockpit, which worked almost the same as the Audi Virtual Cockpit. On the center console, the infotainment unit featured Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
The second row of seats was able to slide back and fore and had a reclining seatback. For the third row, there was room for average height passengers.

Under the hood, the offer started with a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine, while the top-spec version featured a 3.6-liter V6 with 280 hp. The standard transmission was an 8-speed automatic.