Never heard of the Volkswagen Phideon? Neither had we until two weeks ago. That might be because it was buried inside Volkswagen’s plans for its Chinese joint venture, or it might be because Volkswagen has only now come to appreciate that it just might be the right car at the right time for other parts of the world, too.

The first Volkswagen-branded car to use the VW Group’s modular, longitudinal-engine MLB architecture, the Phideon is a production-ready five-seat sedan, powered by a 300-hp 3.0-liter turbo V-6 making 325 lb-ft of torque. The Phideon’s design draws heavily from Volkswagen’s C Coupe GTE hybrid concept car from the 2015 Shanghai motor show. At 198.8 inches long, 73.6 inches wide, and 58.3 inches high, it sits above the Passat and is named after the Roman goddess of fidelity—sort of. She was actually called Fides. “Phideon” is a Volkswagenized version of her name.

The all-wheel-drive Phideon will be built and sold in China starting in the third quarter of this year. The lineup also will include a 2.0-liter front-driver that is slated to come onstream next year, and there’s a plug-in hybrid in the works, as well.

It was developed in Germany to suit the requests of the SAIC-Volkswagen joint venture, which means it should work for both owner and chauffeur alike. It even borrows Bentley’s active air-suspension system, which comes with five different driving settings. It’s also the first Volkswagen-branded machine to use thermal-imaging night vision. The Chinese market has evolved into Volkswagen’s most important, and the Phideon is filled with autonomous driving technology, including adaptive cruise control, hands-free lane-keeping, and self-parking.

Why does this matter, really? Well, Volkswagen had planned an expensively engineered replacement for the expensively engineered sales disaster that was its flagship Phaeton, but that got iced in the wake of the diesel-emissions scandal. Then the Phaeton program got resurrected as a pure-electric model, but then it got iced again. Insiders at Volkswagen insist chairman Herbert Diess wants a big car above the Passat and if it’s not going to be the Phaeton, there’s little stopping him from making it the Phideon.

After all, why else launch a China-only car at the Geneva auto show, the car industry’s favorite global show, when the Beijing auto show is less than two months away? Even if the Phideon-not-Phaeton does end up being sold outside of China, we don’t expect the car to make it to North America—memories of the Phaeton’s failure here apparently are too fresh. As one Volkswagen of America spokesperson said, “It’s never, ever, ever coming to the U.S.” That’s pretty definite.

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