Paris Spotlight: Volkswagen Phaeton Exclusive

It’s hard to believe that it’s been about 10 years since the first Volkswagen Phaeton was introduced. Built using the same corporate steel chassis D platform that underpins the Bentley Continental, the car even did a short stint in the USA before ending its stateside run in 2006. It’s since undergone a facelift and remained on sale in Europe, and it still turned up on the Volkswagen stand in Paris.

Chatting about the car with a Volkswagen staffer from another market outside of Germany, he pointed out the demand for the car in limo friendly markets like China. While a new version is expected in a few years and Volkswagen of America boss Michael Horn has hinted that we could even see it in the USA by 2018, it is the current-generation car that still soldiers on looking surprisingly fresh for a car introduced a decade ago.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the Volkswagen show stand Phaeton was an “Exclusive” model. That means it was decked in tailored bright leather and had seemingly every bit of kit you could order for such a car from the glass factory in Dresden that builds the Phaeton exclusively.

In the end, the Phaeton may be a bit of a non-story to Americans who haven’t gotten it for some eight years. Even still, we’re guessing OEM+ fans are likely still eyeing it up for its cool components. Come on. You know those 20-inch polished split 5-spokers would look pretty amazing on a Golf 7 or a Passat.

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