2011 Volkswagen Phaeton facelift spied in Malaysia!

2011 Volkswagen Phaeton facelift spied in Malaysia!

The Volkswagen sedan you see on the trailer above with its badges covered up is not a Jetta or a Passat. Notice the twin rear tailpipes, one on each side of the rear bumper? You’re looking at the ultimate Volkswagen – the Phaeton! And the car’s presence here in Malaysia could be an indication of an impending launch.

If you think the Audi A8 is the underdog choice in the full size luxury car segment, you haven’t met the Volkswagen Phaeton yet. The Phaeton is the ultimate underdog luxury car – said to be brilliant in its capabilities by the motoring press but somehow losing out in sales to the S-Class and the 7-Series because of a “people’s car” badge.

The car you see above is the latest 2011 facelifted version, with a refreshed front and rear, now featuring headlamps with LED daytime running lights and new tail lamps that bring it in line with the current Volkswagen design language. I’m not entirely sure whether the car above is the long wheelbase version or the short wheelbase version though, but most of the players in that segment in this country offer only the long wheelbase version because of the buyer profile.

Curiously, the Phaeton is only available as a V6 TDI in the UK. There are also other engines available of course – I don’t see Volkswagen offering diesels here at this point of time. The Phaeton’s petrol engine line-up include a base V6 FSI engine producing 280 PS, accompanying a V8 and a top of the line line W12 producing 335 PS and 450 PS respectively.

Look after the jump for a picture gallery of the Phaeton facelift.

[zenphotopress number=999 album=1174]

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • happyone on Jan 21, 2012 at 11:38 pm

    soooo unclenish :/

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    • i’ve seen the review of phaeton by tiff needle from fifth gear.
      more to dissapointing effort by vw compared to s-class and 7 series really

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    • You guys are aware of how old the Phaeton is right?

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    • VOLVO FOR LIFE on Jan 24, 2012 at 1:06 am

      the phaeton was great when it come out. but the facelift its just disappointing it feels as though they just did it to make the car newish in order to clear the stocks. i do not have an idea on which country this car sells well. any leads guys? china?

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  • kadajawi on Jan 21, 2012 at 11:41 pm

    Sweet. Though really, who would buy a VW luxury car? Even in Malaysia, where VW is a bit of a premium brand. Citroen has the same problem, even though they have quite a good reputation for luxury cars, being the brand of choice for the French president and having the ultimate magic carpet ride quality.

    “One of them was that the Phaeton should be capable of being driven all day at 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) with an exterior temperature of 50 °C (122 °F) whilst maintaining the interior temperature at 22 °C (72 °F).”
    lol. It also sits on the same platform as the Bentley Continental GT, and apparently is hand built. The car is supposed to be more comfort oriented than the Audi A8 and BMW 7 series, which, looking at our roads, should be good.

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    • alldisc on Jan 23, 2012 at 9:23 pm

      we no need go far. malaysians dont even buy volvo s80!!.
      so forget this, but anyway as a marque, VW is doing it just for the sake of feel good factor by bringing in the full line up.

      just like UMW selling yaris and RAV4.

      or Honda selling Freed and Odyssey. some showing off is important as part of brand building.

      or Hyundai with Grandeur and Azure.

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      • Brandon Tee on Dec 05, 2013 at 8:28 pm

        @alldisc you just said “azure” azure is for bentley

        hyundai calls the grandeur as the “azera”; just like what the genesis is called “rohens” in china.

        Phaeton production in the US ended in 2006 after plummeting sales

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  • 'Thom'Lee on Jan 21, 2012 at 11:44 pm

    If it is priced reasonably between RM500k to RM600k and the specs are high (well, I would expect that from VW), it will definitely affect the sales of BMW, Merc and Audi’s limos…

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  • Brazbuz on Jan 21, 2012 at 11:45 pm

    I think in front of it is whether golf r or scirocco r

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  • JUNHONG on Jan 21, 2012 at 11:54 pm

    woots, I love the luxurious interior. Same as Audi A8 that have a W12. MY DREAM CAR!

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  • Bob Vettel on Jan 21, 2012 at 11:59 pm

    It’s probably for DRB’s bigwigs, not for sale to the public.

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  • nebula87 on Jan 22, 2012 at 12:10 am

    Now Now Audi A8, you got yourself a challenger…XD

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  • Maserati on Jan 22, 2012 at 12:29 am

    Looks yucky for me. For that kinda money better off with a merc s class

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  • Jimmy on Jan 22, 2012 at 12:33 am

    Kurb weight >2300kg, hmm better than a lot of hugh SUV. If comes with 10 airbags, maybe as safe as XC90. Pricing wise, LWB also cannot exceed XC90, otherwise nobody will buy.

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  • i can assure you..this car is damn expensive..watch the review of this car on top gear few years back..its a fine car

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  • This is the best looking VW sedan ever and i really like it but the Phaeton is very expensive just like the Merc S class and i think most typical uncle will prefer S class over this beauty…but some good taste people will prefer this…if i’m rich i buy this one :)

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  • kevin lee on Jan 22, 2012 at 2:13 am

    saw the phaeton in real life in germany. the uber luxury!

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    • Brandon Tee on Oct 18, 2013 at 3:14 pm

      Sadly, production in the US began in ’04 and ended in ’06. Unlike the KIA Borrego for US and Canada which ended production in 2009 after beginning production on the same year due to lower than expected sales the Phaeton still continued production outside the US and will compete with the Hyundai Equus, BMW 7 Series, Lexus LS, Audi A8 and Jaguar XJ. Other competitors is the base model Maserati Quattroporte, Chrysler 300C Luxury w/ the 5.7 Hemi V8, Infiniti Q45 (ended production in the same year for the US), etc.

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  • _xXx_ on Jan 22, 2012 at 3:11 am

    ahpek car again….

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  • MrPoppyplants on Jan 22, 2012 at 3:37 am

    Exterior is visually almost identical to the Passat. WTF? Phaeton? How about some effort in the design department for VW’s highest end model?

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  • looking-good on Jan 22, 2012 at 5:21 am

    A8 is underdog????

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  • Cool, since Phaeton is expected to enter Malaysia’s market soon, can I assume Sharan is coming too?

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  • RedBeanBun on Jan 22, 2012 at 7:01 am

    so what? not much people going to buy this, since their price sure shoot at RM300K range…i mean if I can afford that range, sure Merc or Beemer is the image i want to put up instead of the VW…sorry mate.

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  • littlefire on Jan 22, 2012 at 11:01 am

    Well… Why this model unable to sell…

    Just goggle it why Skoda Superb is so good in Europe…

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  • Prefer the pre-facelift phaeton, looked grand. Whilst living im berlin, phaeton was more common than 7series. It was the choice of Angela Merkels drive-bys to meetings at the ritz carlton potsdamerplatz.

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  • tokmoh on Jan 22, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    Hmmm, some years ago I heard Tun Mahathir also rides this car. The car that Jeremy Clarkson likes a lot

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  • If i’m not mistaken, i saw Phaeton in putrajaya back then, maybe belong to Tun M..at putrajaya mosque

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  • jasjos on Jan 22, 2012 at 2:35 pm

    this car can only sell well in China today. Outdated design and tech, compared to the other Germans

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  • very nice and luxurious interior. but vw need to ditch that front design….looks too much like the cheap camry!

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  • It better be significantly cheaper than the A8 to be able to survive this market in Malaysia. I expect it to be priced at the higher end of 500k but even then, it would sell very very badly. Impossible to be 400k as that is Touareg territory.

    Seriously VW Msia, bring in the Scirocco R and Golf R and you can sell more of those here than the Phaeton.

    Btw, that Phaeton has some fancy shiny rims!

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  • dozy888 on Jan 22, 2012 at 6:09 pm

    The design looks outdated.. Looks very much like a year 2001 Audi A6.. Time to change the dashboard by leveling up the integrated Screen to accommodate to the driver’s eye level.. this car is only suitable to be driven or chauffeured.

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  • Unforgiven on Jan 22, 2012 at 8:51 pm

    DRB = one of Tun M baby

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  • Unforgiven on Jan 23, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    This may be too cheap for the cronies, Brabus maybe…

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  • Malaysian politician ask us to support local brand and reject Western ideologies, then THEY proceed to drive western cars, send their kids to western schools and holiday in thr west. So much for integration.

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  • BeemerFreak on Jan 23, 2012 at 10:11 pm

    WHy is the Golf R and Scirocco R still missing from VGM’s lineup. Hurry up VGM!!!!1

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  • DewaSemut on Jan 24, 2012 at 7:37 pm

    Perdana replacement in two years time? :)

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    • sirimusa on Jan 25, 2012 at 8:31 am

      I think you might be absolutely right: the first thing I thought is this might be Perdana replacement for the Government Fleet. This might be one of the goodies DRB promised the Government if they get PROTON.
      Maybe under the logo cover there is a… PROTON badge. I’m sure VW would be more than glad to liquidate some of their stock of Phaetons which has been selling very poorly…

      Mystery!!

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  • online shopping malaysia on Jan 25, 2012 at 1:19 am

    800k can buy 2nd hand ferrari alraedy = =”

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  • bongek on Jan 25, 2012 at 1:54 am

    i would like to wish Happy Chinese New Year to all paultan.org team…. thank to provide me a good quality item to read.

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  • ahmadfaris93 on Jan 25, 2012 at 8:19 pm

    If they cant sell the Passat , I dont think they can sell the Phaeton as much. People will always settle for the E-class and the 5 series. Yes, they are in different segment of cars but Malaysian will prefer Mercs and BMWs . But who knows , maybe people will choose this car just because it is bigger and cheaper

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  • hasbaruddin mat karuniah on Jan 25, 2012 at 8:44 pm

    I also don’t know why the great jpj need to test out all these high class cars 5 stareuro ncap rating cars on our beloved Malaysian roads? They want to see if these cars can run on kelapa sawit oil if the car breaks down in one of our vast plantations? The climate control has a deoderize mode to get the smell of nasi lemak out of the cabin and durian out of the boot? an optional special drop box to be fitted for missing company funds?

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  • arbhd on Mar 08, 2012 at 12:10 am

    I used to own 2006 phaeton , it was the best car i ever used.

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