Geneva Motor Show: Four world premieres provide powerful and electrifying highlights

World premiere 1: ID. BUGGY takes the idea of the legendary dune buggy into the age of electric mobility
World premiere 2: The 8th generation of the Passat displays the brand’s latest innovations
World premiere 3: T-Roc R as the new top version of the crossover model, whose launch has been impressively successful
World Premiere 4: Touareg V8 TDI with 310 kW / 421 PS and 900 Nm is the brand’s new top model

With no less than four world premieres, the Volkswagen brand presents itself at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show (7–17 March). Four highlights focus on two topics: electric mobility and performance. At today’s press conference, Ralf Brandstätter, COO of Volkswagen Brand, announced that: “The transformation of the Volkswagen brand is in full swing. We are making excellent progress in the areas of digitalisation of our company and the electrification of our models.”

With the ID. BUGGY, the Volkswagen brand presents a new facet of the modular electric drive matrix (MEB). The purist design of the fully electric concept car is a modern interpretation of the popular US dune buggy of the sixties and seventies. At that time, the Beetle chassis served as the basis. Today, the MEB demonstrates similar flexibility and Volkswagen once again underscores the platform’s potential in the shape of the ID. BUGGY. Dr. Frank Welsch, member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand with responsibility for Technical Development says: “The technical principle of the MEB is convincing. Size, battery and drive are all scalable. This makes it possible for us to configure them differently in various models for different segments, and thereby fulfil the specific wishes of our customers. The ID. BUGGY is a fascinating demonstration of this.”

More comfortable, more digital, and more technologically sophisticated – the 8th generation of the Passat. A new Passat, incorporating the latest brand innovations. One example is the Travel Assist feature, making its world premiere in the Passat. It will be the first Volkswagen with this assist system that can travel – partially automated – at almost any speed (up to 210 km/h). Another new feature of the Passat is capacitive steering wheel. This detects touch by the driver, providing an interactive interface to systems such as Travel Assist. The 30 millionth Passat will leave the assembly line this spring. This makes it the most successful mid-size model worldwide.

With the Volkswagen T-Roc R, the car manufacturer from Wolfsburg presents at Geneva a new sporty top model for its crossover product line, which has got off to a successful start. Developed by Volkswagen R, this powerful vehicle boasts some impressive performance data: the four-cylinder TSI engine, with its 2.0 litre capacity and proven Volkswagen TSI technology, has an output of 221 kW/300 PS as well as torque of 400 Nm. The Volkswagen T-Roc R can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds, while the top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h.

Volkswagen celebrates yet another world premiere with its Touareg V8 TDI. The 310 kW/421 PS-TDI achieves a maximum torque of 900 Nm, making it the most powerful diesel SUV from any German car manufacturer. As with the product line’s V6 models, the new V8 version also meets the requirements of the Euro 6d-TEMP emission standard. Standard equipment also includes four-corner air suspension for perfect comfort and aerodynamic driving on rough terrain.