Atlas

Make
Volkswagen
Segment
SUV

The Volkswagen Atlas will hit dealerships sometime this spring, and when it does the new seven-seat SUV will cost about $30,000. That's the word coming out of Detroit per Car and Driver. That money buys you a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine good for 235 horsepower. Front-wheel drive will be standard on all base models. At the top end of the spectrum is the $48,000 Atlas SEL Premium, which will most likely come with the naturally aspirated V6 good for 276 ponies and potentially all-wheel drive, although that may be an optional extra.

There was no word on where the sporty R-Line trim level, seen here, will land at. It's not much more than an appearance package so we can't imagine it would drive pricing through the roof. So far it seems like Volkswagen has learned from its past mistakes. By "past mistakes" we mean the ridiculous pricing of the Touareg. The five-seat crossover has a starting MSRP of $49,495, a price which the bigger Atlas will undercut that by almost $20,000. Combine that with the reveal of a seven-seat Tiguan and the VW SUV lineup suddenly doesn't look so shabby. This is the first Volkswagen model in a long time that we're excited to drive.