Volkswagen shows off the Phaeton successor it never built

The handsome top-line sedan was killed off as the automaker turned to electrification instead

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For one brief, shining moment starting in 2004, Volkswagen offered Canadians the Phaeton — a top-top-of-the-line VW that started just under $100,000. It lasted only two years here, but was sold in Europe from 2002 to 2016.

Now, on the 20^th anniversary of the Phaeton’s release, Volkswagen in Germany has rolled out the car that would have been the second generation, but which never went into production. It’s the first time it’s been shown outside of the company.

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The original Phaeton was a pet project for Ferdinand Piëch, chairman of the board of VW and who was about to retire. The car would be his last hurrah, more luxurious than the A8 from sister company Audi. The automaker built a new factory in Dresden specifically to build it, with glass walls – and maple flooring imported from Canada – so passers-by could watch the hand-built cars being made.

The Phaeton was updated four times over its lifespan, but the Phaeton D2, as the project was dubbed, would mark an all-new model. Four concepts were built before one was chosen. This driveable model was built, but before it could move into the production stage, Volkswagen decided that it was going to move toward electrification. The D2’s journey toward the assembly line came to a halt and the car was put into storage. The production facility, dubbed the Transparent Factory, was retooled to make the electric e-Golf and, later on, the electric ID.3.

However, Volkswagen states the Phaeton still played an important role overall, creating a premium side for the automaker that eventually led to vehicles such as the Touareg and Arteon.

“The fact that the Phaeton D2 was ahead of its time can be seen today in features such as the curved display, which was planned for the Phaeton successor and which was launched on the market in 2018 in the Touareg’s Innovision Cockpit,” said Tomasz Bachorski, who designed the D2’s interior.