Six and a half years have passed since the Volkswagen Phaeton ceased production after 14 years on sale, fulfilling the dream of the then president of the German brand Ferdinand Piëch, who has since died. Now, the Wolfsburg os declassified the secret files of the second generation that was cancelled.
Surely you remember the Volkswagen Phaeton, the majestic sedan of the German brand that was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2002. The icing on an offer that, then, only had the crown set on the Passat. The late Ferdinand Piëch was busy developing exclusive models like the XL1, but he was also the one that truly opted for the most luxurious models like the Touareg or the protagonist of these lines.
While the SUV still endures, the Phaeton said goodbye in spring 2016, ending a production of no less than 14 years, in which the luxury sedan underwent four facelifts to keep up. Despite reports pointing to the high production cost of the Phaeton, Piëch never gave up on this luxurious model, knowing that luxury saloon customers had other preferences including the Audi A8, and despite the fact that both models shared technologies. Because, due to aesthetic differences, the Phaeton was practically traced to the Audi flagship.
Volkswagen Phaeton, the ill-fated luxury saloon
But the first Volkswagen Phaeton, known as “D1”, said goodbye with no replacement on the horizon. The German brand confirmed the disappearance of the flagship pressured by costs, but it really had prepared a replacement for the Phaeton, the «D2» that you can see in the image gallery, and that was ready to debut in 2016. The German firm has declassified unique files of this new model that never saw the light of the bulbs, a single manufactured unit that remains in its warehouses.
And, as you can see, the second Phaeton – internally known as «VW621»- opted for a more elegant design on the outside, and much more luxurious and modern on the inside. Because, if you look more closely, you will see a much more modern dashboard, with a large curved screen that extends to the door panels creating an enveloping feeling. A system that is really considered the precursor to the Innovision Cockpit that premiered the current Touareg in 2018 when it was introduced.
The farewell to the Phaeton, which had to deal with important technical issues to satisfy Piëch’s wishes, was also related to more sustainable mobility and electrification, being these two issues that focused the justification for the cessation of production of the luxury saloon. What is clear is that Volkswagen took a very premature decision with the Phaetonwhich today would have been an important alternative to the Genesis, among other models.