It was a car for connoisseurs, individualists and enthusiasts: Volkswagen launched the Volkswagen Phaeton D2 Concept on the market 20 years ago.

From 2002 onwards, the luxury saloon fascinated with its confident, calm and collected character, excellent comfort, high-tech features and impressive manufacturing quality.

Volkswagen took its first steps into the luxury car segment with the Phaeton and immediately proved that it was at home in this premium market. The Phaeton acted as a shining star that benefited the whole brand and paved the way for other premium products such as the Touareg and Arteon.

Its farewell came in 2016 when the Brand Board of Management decided to discontinue the saloon in favour of a systematic re-alignment with a focus on electric mobility – although the successor with the project name “Phaeton D2” was already waiting in the wings.

The drivable one-off Volkswagen Phaeton D2 Concept model was preceded by an internal selection process to choose from four different concepts.

The design produced by Pavone and Bachorski got the nod, impressing with its sporty and flat contours and high-quality interior. The near-series prototype, which was based on the modular longitudinal matrix (MLB), was then built for the final decision by the Supervisory Board.

However, since all energies were focused on aligning Volkswagen for electric mobility, it was decided not to proceed with the luxury saloon.

Jozef Kaba, Head of Volkswagen Design, looks full of respect at the Volkswagen Phaeton D2, which never went into series production: “The car still has a very attractive appearance and beautiful proportions, and it impresses with its tangible high quality and value.”

Together with his colleagues Marco Pavone, Head of Exterior Design, and Tomasz Bachorski, Head of Interior Design, Kaba is currently responsible for designing the future Volkswagen models.

Attributes such as quality and value, which characterised the Phaeton right from the start and underlined its premium aspirations, still play an important part at Volkswagen today.

Even if the planned successor model was not realised as a result of this decision, the first Volkswagen Phaeton D2 Concept demonstrated what Volkswagen was already capable of 20 years ago with its luxury comfort, innovative drive systems and pioneering finish quality.

It therefore achieved halo effects for the whole brand, which can still be experienced in many models right up to the present day. Tomasz Bachorski, responsible for the interior of the premium model back then, says:

“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.”

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