The Arteon is a hard car to compare with rivals

P11d (BiK): £35,740 (32%) MPG/CO2: 36.1mpg /144g/km (WLTP) Test MPG: 29.3mpg

The Arteon’s ‘sleeper’ status makes it a hard car to compare with rivals – is it a mainstream volume brand four-door or, as the marketeers would like us to believe, a premium ‘coupaloon’?

The answer seems to be – it’s a bit of both. Styling wise it veers towards a more premium niche, but underneath it is a prosaic VW product (and that’s not a criticism).

So should your choice list include the Arteon as a niche alternative to the tradition three-box upper-medium cars? Most definitely, as not only does it allow drivers to stand out in the car park, but it does so without much in the way of financial penalty.

Our top-spec Arteon sits in the same BIK banding as the Passat saloon in identical specification – the Arteon’s slightly higher P11d price means it will cost a 40% taxpayer £393 a month in company car tax – just £30 a month more than the Passat. But, just to complicate matters, that same driver could also have an Audi A4 S line 40 TFSI S tronic saloon for exactly the same monthly cost. Decisions, decisions…