Chances are, if you see a new Volkswagen on the road, it’ll be a family vehicle. After all, crossover SUVs comprise 80% of the automaker’s sales in the United States, even though it wasn’t so long ago that the VW badge primarily adorned sedans, wagons, and hatchbacks. The Atlas introduced a “people’s car” expressly designed for the people of North America and cemented the automaker’s place in the school dropoff line.
That was back in 2017, a lifetime ago as model cycles go. Now, Volkswagen is giving the twice-updated Atlas an overhaul to ensure it stays in the game. It’s not due on dealer lots until the fall, but we got a sneak peek at an early prototype and even got to drive it–in exceptional conditions. We joined Volkswagen reps and two champion drivers at Lake Sacaomie in Québec, Canada to practice our drifts and figure 8s on ice.
2027 Volkswagen Atlas Pricing, Specs, and Release Date
- What’s New for the 2027 Volkswagen Atlas
- Design
- Powertrain
- Interior
- Technology
- Safety
- Pricing and Release Date
- Further Research
What’s New for the 2027 Volkswagen Atlas
The Atlas enters its second generation for 2027. Automakers typically characterize less-dramatic updates as “refreshes” or “facelifts,” and the Atlas has had two since its debut for the 2018 model year: It got a new steering wheel and exterior updates for 2021, and a substantial interior redesign, among other things, for 2024. In theory, the fact that this latest change is presented as a new generation means we can expect it to be a wholesale transformation.
Design
We’re told that the new Atlas features almost all new sheet metal: According to VW reps, only the roof is the same. All four of the 2027 Atlases we saw in Canada wore the same camouflaged wrap, which effectively hid the car’s thunder. Even up close, it was surprisingly difficult to get a read on lines, though we did note that the new Atlas still features the trademark sculpted wheel arches, and its profile is quite similar to its predecessor’s. Headlights and taillights were well-disguised with tape but are reportedly completely different for 2027.
Powertrain
Since the 2024-model-year refresh, every Atlas has been powered by a turbocharged inline-four-cylinder engine which makes 269 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. An eight-speed automatic transmission sends power to the front wheels by default, and upgraded versions are all-wheel-drive (AWD).
We know the new Atlas will use the same engine as the new Tiguan, meaning it will still get a 2.0-liter turbo inline-four. In the two-row Tiguan, the base tune of this motor is good for just 201 hp, but that’s cranked up to 268 for the new SEL R-Line Turbo. We’d expect to see at least that output in the larger and heavier Atlas. True, the crossover’s target audience is likely more concerned about safety than power, but it’s rare that an automaker will allow a second-generation model off the assembly line with objectively worse statistics than its predecessor.
As of this writing, we have no reason to expect changes to the Atlas’s drivetrain. The eight-speed auto persists in the Tiguan and likely will here as well. We did experience manual mode while flinging the prototype around the ice. It held second gear when asked, but reset every time we came to a complete stop–intentional behavior, of course.
Perhaps counterintuitively, we were instructed to select the Off-Road driving mode, not Snow, for our ice adventure. This is because the ability to turn off electronic stability control was critical for our purposes. You don’t want a car to fight you if you’re actively trying to get sideways, but you absolutely want it to fight any other factors that might push it to deviate from the obvious path. The Atlas did this admirably.
Interior
Having admitted that we’ve driven the ‘27 Atlas, we can’t very well claim complete ignorance of its interior. Details are currently embargoed, however, and in truth, ice driving–especially in an AWD three-row–was challenging enough that we had little attention to spare. Our overall impression was that it was appropriately nice for a higher trim level.
We do know the new Atlas will be dimensionally similar to the 2026 version. If it maintains or exceeds the 20.9-cubic-foot storage capacity behind the third row, the Atlas will stay ahead of the also-just-redesigned Hyundai Palisade and well ahead of the Mazda CX-90.
It’s exactly this sort of competition in the crowded three-row crossover space that motivates automakers to revise, revamp, and refine their vehicles. Mazda is known for punching above its weight in terms of premium fit and finish; CarGurus reviewers have remarked in recent years that Volkswagen is also positioning its models as more up-market. It seems reasonable to assume, then, that VW designers will be bucking for the best materials they can get within budget. And in any next-generation model, we expect to see improvements in layout and space optimization, as well as updates that address any complaints the automaker may have been hearing from its customer base during the lifecycle of the previous generation.
Technology
In terms of the tech most drivers will use to engage with the car, we barely scratched the surface on this drive. We know that the current Atlas offers standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto through a 12-inch touchscreen that runs MIB3–the third iteration of Volkswagen’s Modular Infotainment Toolkit. The car’s tech earned points in our last review for the standard wireless connectivity, something that took Hyundai until this year to add to the Palisade lineup, but was dinged for the infotainment system’s ease of use (more accurately, its lack thereof) and for frustrating controls in the touchscreen and sometimes-invisible ones below it. Multiple Volkswagen execs have publicly committed to bringing back buttons in statements made over the past few years, so we are optimistic that the 2027 Atlas will allow owners more bandwidth to appreciate Volkswagen’s visually compelling interface.
Safety
Anyone considering an Atlas as a family vehicle will be pleased to hear that it is very difficult to get the thing sideways, even on ice, even doing our darnedest. Sudden transitions from a high-grip surface to a slick one will always present a traction challenge, but leave your electronic stability control on and drive in the proper mode, and you can rest assured the car will leverage a full arsenal of safety tech to keep you on the road. We’ll review the standard and optional advanced driver-assistance systems when we have the opportunity to test them in more realistic driving scenarios.
The 2026 Atlas earned a coveted Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), improving on the Top Safety Pick rating the 2024 and ‘25 models took home. Among key competitors, the ‘26 Atlas joins the Mazda CX-90 and Kia Telluride in outscoring the Honda Pilot, Hyundai Palisade, and Toyota Highlander. Volkswagen no doubt aspires to retain these honors with the next-generation Atlas. The crossover will need top marks in crash tests, a strong showing in pedestrian front crash-prevention, and at least the second-best rating on the base trim’s standard headlights to pull that off.
Pricing and Release Date
We don’t have specifics on delivery timing for the 2027 Atlas yet, but we’re told it should be in customers’ hands in the fall of 2026, and we expect more information to become available following the car’s public reveal at the New York International Auto Show in April.
As of this writing, the 2026 Atlas starts at $40,785, including destination. Because the latest generation of the smaller VW Tiguan carried a $2k price increase when it launched for the 2024 model year, we’re prepared to estimate that the 2027 Volkswagen Atlas will start in the $43 to $45,000 range. We’ll update as official information becomes available from the brand.
