Geneva motor show: VW wants new CC to slip between Passat and Phaeton

Hot of the back of winning the prestigious European Car Of The Year award for the Passat, VW has been busy at the Geneva motor show displaying the Sport Coupe Concept GTE, which we may think of as a Passat wearing a Dior dress, high heels and applying some seriously red lipstick.

But while the Concept GTE is clearly an early look at the styling and layout of the new CC four-door coupe, it's also a little more than that – it's designed to stretch the Passat up and out a little, in image terms, so that it sits more naturally in the gaping chasm between the it and the larger, ever-more luxurious Phaeton.

VW is keeping the Phaeton going, and working on an all-new model quite against the advice of more or less every motor industry analyst going, so it needs a car that leads easily from the Passat to its S-Class rival and the Concept GTE is it.

Not surprisingly then, it's another example of the flexibility of VW"s clever MQB modular platform. as well as being really rather gorgeous. The styling is set off by a very (indeed unusually) long bonnet and set-back a-pillar, yet despite the swoop styling VW says that the car has improved front and rear headroom compared to the outgoing CC as well as a decent 480-litre boot.

Powering the concept is a V6 petrol turbo engine with 380hp, and it's hooked up to a plugin hybrid electric module, hence the GTE tag. There are two electric motors, which help the engine push the concept to a maximum speed of 250kmh, but VW is claiming average fuel consumption of just 2.0-litres per 100km _ or 141mpg.

Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Development, explained the new Coupé Concept GTE for the Volkswagen brand: “This concept car is a breathtakingly dynamic coupé, destined to set standards in this class. Thanks to the design in the style of an exclusive sports car combined with the added functionality of a large boot lid, we see an impressive alternative to the classic saloons of the B and C segments in this four-seater.”