2026 Volkswagen Atlas expected to debut as new Teramont in China

It’s hard to keep up with VW’s expanding SUV lineup in China, but some models will cross over to other markets, even if under different brands, giving us a sneak peek into the future. Case in point: the new Volkswagen Teramont Pro just showed up at China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The model will come to North America as the next-generation 2026 Volkswagen Atlas.

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The current three-row Volkswagen Atlas is a twin to the Chinese Teramont and has been remodeled twice in a row since it was launched in 2017, in 2020 and 2023. Volkswagen has confirmed that the model will remain unchanged until the 2025 model year, which means that the new generation will probably arrive in the United States and Canada as a 2026 model.

More: 2025 Volkswagen Taos is launched, with a sleeker appearance, more power, and no DSG

The latest photos from China show a completely redesigned Teramont Pro with a boxier shape and more refined surfaces. It retains the Teramont’s distinctive double-layer headlights, now updated with tinted light clusters and stylish graphics. The grille is now covered and illuminated, connecting the headlights with the VW logo to create a unified front-end look.

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VW plans to offer two versions of the front bumper for the Teramont Pro: slimmer air intakes for the entry-level model and sportier intakes for the higher-spec model. The changes could hint at the standard and R Line versions of the upcoming Atlas, though the U.S.-spec model could include market-specific features.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

At the rear, the taillights are embedded in dark trim that stretches into the profile – similar to the smaller Tiguan. All of these features pretty much confirm what we saw in early spy photos of the Volkswagen Atlas, in which a camouflaged prototype was spotted during development testing in Europe.

Car of the future: 2026 Volkswagen Atlas SUV

Official documents show that the Volkswagen Teramont Pro is 5,158 mm (203.1 in) long, 1,991 mm (78.4 in) wide, 1,788 mm (70.4 in) tall, and has a wheelbase of 2,980 mm (117.3 in). This is 60 mm (2.4 in) longer than the US-spec Volkswagen Atlas, although the two have the same wheelbase. The SUV will most likely ride on the MQB Evo platform, in line with most of the Volkswagen Group’s ICE-powered vehicles.

The Volkswagen Teramont Pro 450TSI shown in the pictures is equipped with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with an output of 268 hp (200 kW / 272 PS), with power transmitted to all four wheels via a DSG automatic transmission and Volkswagen’s 4Motion AWD system. Meanwhile, the North American-spec Volkswagen Atlas is expected to continue to use the 2.0 TSI engine, possibly with a PHEV variant.

Documents from China show that the Volkswagen Teramont Pro will be launched earlier than the new Atlas, possibly entering the Chinese market early next year. The SUV is a product of the SAIC-Volkswagen joint venture and will be launched alongside the existing Teramont. The new Volkswagen Passat Pro and the old Passat also adopt the same strategy, further expanding the number of Volkswagen products in the Chinese market.

We expect the new North American Atlas to debut next year, likely alongside a sportier Atlas Cross — the latter of which is just a regular Atlas with a steeply raked rear window and no third-row seats.

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