Side by side to the Bugatti Showroom, VW has collaborated with Ars Electronica museum of Linz, Austria, to showcase the future of automobiles by VW. The exhibition was held in the Automobil Forum Unter den Linden at Friedrichstrasse, Berlin.
The VW Phaeton, is perhaps the most unique car in the VW stable. While VW has a reputation to be known as the people's car, not everyone actually has the faintest idea that VW actually has created a personalised luxury vehicle.
This personalised limousine, is the equilavent to the Mercedes S Class and BMW 7 series. Jeremy Clarkson once commented that the previous generation VW Phaeton was a very luxurious car, however the price being paid for a VW brand simply doesn't justifies it. This car is so unique, that you would ever see it on Malaysian roads. (Unless someone decided to bring it over from VW or Germany)
The interior is so plush, that it gives you an idea that it isn't just a bread and butter VW limousine. The interior is handmade with perfection and comes from the factory of Dresden in Germany. The car has two choices of engines, either the V6 TDi, V6 FSI or the V8 engine option. (The booklet provided by VW was in German and doesn't specify its engine capacity, I have to make do with sight translation).
The other car that caught my eye was the VW Amarok. This is the first attempt by VW to create a proper 4x4 pick up truck (although VW has rebadged certain vehicles from other manufacturers to create a 4x4 pick up truck before)
The size is pretty daunting. It is definitely larger than the Toyota Hilux we have in the country. It is perhaps as large or even larger than the Nissan Navara. The 4motion badge at the rear of the truck indicates that this car is a 4WD vehicle. I bet the TDI engines are super smooth and fuel efficient too.
The interior in the pickup truck looks so plush that you might mistaken it as a luxury vehicle. This puts other pickup trucks in Malaysian markets to shame. I really hope VW will bring in the Amarok to Malaysian shores to satisfy our ever growing need of a proper 4x4 pick up truck.
The three spoke steering wheel on the Amarok actually looks pretty good. Sadly the dashboard is pretty bland. Then again, I don't blame them if this is only just a pick up truck. It does have a better looking dashboard amongst pick up trucks.
The dashboard is standard VW layout. It is similar to the Golf and Passat range that you can find in Malaysia. It's just simple, uncluttered and very readable.
There were other cars on display, namely the VW Golf Convertible, a direct decendant of the original MK1 which had the original convertible option.
The side profile is pretty cool, it definitely reminds you of a Peugeot 207 CC, but more sexier than it's French counterpart (Don't hate me, you Frenchies!)
Look at it's petite arse, it's so chic!
The VW Eos was there as well, but Tom has pretty much given a proper review of the car, so do check out his review.
And there are those from the VW stable, Skodas.
Or it's Spanish cousin, SEAT.
And not to be missed, VW's very own offering, the VW Caddy, California (most likely the modern reiteration of the older VW Combi Bus), Passat Blue Motion and Golf Blue.e.motion (Electric Golf).
Overall, this family reunion was a great one. It was an eye opening experience to see many cars that wasn't available locally in Malaysia. This exhibition runs between 7th July to 28th August 2011. It is opened Tue, Wed, Fri, 9:00–17:00; Thu, 9:00–21:00; Sat, Sun, 10:00-18:00. So if you are in Berlin before the exhibition closes, please do visit. You will enjoy every bit of it!
