In a surprising move that has caught luxury carmakers with their EV pants down, today Volkswagen is announcing the return of its flagship luxury nameplate, the Phaeton, with a revolutionary propulsion system. The second-generation luxury sedan, set to debut in late 2026 or early 2027, promises to redefine what people should expect from a high-class green vehicle.The original Phaeton, introduced to great fanfare at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show and produced until 2016, was a bold statement of Volkswagen's engineering prowess and ambition at the beginning of the third millennium. Ferdinand Piech, then chairman of the Volkswagen Group and Ferdinand Porsche's grandson, spearheaded the development of the full-size sedan, wanting a car that would surpass the German market leaders in the luxury segment, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the BMW 7 Series.
A few years after its introduction, the VW Group used the Phaeton's underpinnings to develop the twice-as-expensive Bentley Continental GT and Continental Flying Spur, which was even briefly built alongside its VW brother in the state-of-the-art 'Transparent Factory' in Dresden. Despite the high level of craftsmanship and luxury it exhibited in higher-priced versions, the Phaeton was never a sales success and failed to dethrone the S-Class or the 7 Series.
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