The current range is influenced by the Golf – which design boss Klaus Bischoff has admitted was a mistake – so the company will adopt a ‘top-down’ approach, led by the new flagship saloon.
The next-generation Phaetonwill introduce a new design direction for VWwhen it arrives in showrooms in 2015, Auto Express can reveal.
“Using a bottom-up design strategy didn’t work,” Bischoff told Auto Express. “Flagship models like the Phaeton should act as halo products and influence the way the other cars in the range look, rather than the other way round.”
Bischoff also criticised models in the company’s current line-up for looking too similar, and promised that future VWs will have more individuality.
“There will be a specific look for saloons, one for our SUVs, one for the people carriers and one for our hatchbacks,” he explained.
But while future VWs will look ‘cooler’, Bischoff assured us that this new approach wouldn’t compromise practicality or driving experiences.