It’s official: Volkswagen Arteon has been discontinued in South Africa…

By: CAR magazine

Yes, it’s official. The Volkswagen Arteon has been discontinued in South Africa just two years after arriving on local shores.

VW SA confirmed the news to CARmag.co.za, adding the yet-to-be-revealed facelifted Arteon (and, by implication, the rumoured Arteon R) would “not be making its way to South Africa” either.

Back in August 2019, we broke the news the Wolfsburg-based firm’s local arm had removed the TDI variants from its Arteon range due to “low customer interest”. That left just a single TSI variant in the line-up, which has now also exited the market.

Launched locally in May 2018, the Arteon range had initially comprised three variants, including the oil-burning 2,0 TDI Elegance and 2,0 TDI R-Line models. Both employed a 2,0-litre, four-cylinder oil-burning mill offering 130 kW and 350 N.m to the front axle via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The Arteon 2,0 TSI 4Motion R-Line, meanwhile, generated 206 kW and 350 N.m from its 2,0-litre turbopetrol heart, directed to all four corners via a seven-speed DSG. Before its discontinuation, it had been priced at R752 600.

In February 2019, VW SA confirmed the facelifted Passat would not be coming to local shores, suggesting to CARmag.co.za the sleekly styled Arteon fastback would fill the void (in a segment admittedly experiencing a slowdown in sales). With the Jetta also having since departed local shores (and Polo Vivo Sedan doing the same back in mid-2018), the only saloon left in VW SA’s range is the Polo Sedan…

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