Volkswagen Phaeton has been on the market since 2002 with a facelift in 2007 and another one 2010.
The model is clearly in desperate need for a replacement as the mild facelifts haven’t changed the car much. The Phaeton was created with a goal to surpass the German prestige market leaders, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, as well as to support the Volkswagen brand image.
The Phaeton was intended to compete with comfort oriented big saloons like the Mercedes S-Class and Lexus LS. In real world it was actually also competing probably more with Audi’s A8, which is more sport oriented, going against the BMW 7 Series.
Volkswagen has not given up on the Phaeton yet and reportedly second generation model is expected to arrive in 2017.
Next Phaeton won’t be competing with S-Class and the likes, but more with cars like Chrysler 300 and Hyundai Genesis.
The above rendering is by talented Theophilus Chin showing a potential side profile look, with no big surprises. It’s a Volkswagen!