Volkswagen has released sketches of the car it hopes will steal the stage at next week's Geneva motor show.
Dubbed the Sport Coupe Concept GTE, insiders say the car’s design language points the way to the successor for the highly successful (Passat) CC, which is due on sale in Europe late this year.
The sketches show a new design language from Volkswagen, including an assertive, nearly full-width horizontal grille and stronger wheel-arches and shoulders than previous models.
The rear-end sports prominent exhaust outlets, a swept-back roofline and glasshouse and a small lip spoiler on the bootlid.
“This concept is based on Volkswagen design DNA, which has been visibly sharpened even more,” Volkswagen Group design boss Walter de Silva said.
“It shows how the highest-volume brand of our Group is shaping the immediate future.”
While Volkswagen has yet to confirm the car’s engineering details, the 'GTE' part of the name gives a strong hint that it will be a plug-in hybrid.
Insiders suggest it will be an all-wheel drive concept with two electric motors accompanying a direct-injection, turbocharged petrol engine, most likely a 1.4-litre four-cylinder.
The Passat GTE was shown at last October’s Paris motor show and its single electric motor combined with a 1.4-litre turbo engine clocks up less than 2.0L/100km on the NEDC cycle, has 50km of pure electric running and can eke out more than 1000km on a tank of petrol.
Volkswagen, though, is talking about a more creative powertrain for its concept car, which will probably include an electric motor driving the rear wheels independent of the traditional full-length propshaft, while the petrol motor and the second electric motor take care of the front end.
It is pushing the car’s technical envelope in an effort to carry the next CC upmarket compared to the current car, pushing it into the same shopping areas as Mercedes-Benz’s CLS, BMW’s 4 Series Gran Coupe and Audi’s dated A5 Sportback.