WELCOME to the Volkswagen CC replacement, one of several late-year releases and in every sense a Car of the Year wildcard.

Following in the footsteps of its low-slung predecessor, the newly christened Volkswagen Arteon continues in the Mercedes-Benz CLS-style mould of being a more rakish and richly equipped version of a sedan.

While in this scenario we’re again talking about the Passat mid-sizer, changes abound for the model that now serves as Volkswagen’s flagship.

In fact, the Skoda Superb, which is classed as large, and also based on the widely deployed MQB modular transverse architecture, is mere millimetres longer.

Indeed, ensuring occupant wellbeing is this high-quality German-built Vee Dub’s calling card (CC stood for Comfort Coupe, after all), with fresh-to-brand tech to help justify the near-$70K pricing of this single-spec R-Line all-wheel-drive proposition.

All were undreamt-of advances not so long ago.

For extra showroom dazzle, VW also obliges with an Audi parts-bin raid that sees all-LED lighting, sequential-action indicators, fully digital instrumentation à la Virtual Cockpit with head-up display, and high-end multimedia offering gesture-control, as well as massage and memory front pews, heated front and outboard rear seats, and hugely adjustable dampers for tailored softness.

Quick, reactive steering, sharp handling and utterly unfazed control (singling out an excellent ESC calibration on gravel) reflect the terrific bandwidth of the donor Passat’s AWD chassis, infused with that cultivated on-brand civility. Hammering the posh People’s Car at whirlwind pace seems incongruous but the Arteon breezed through Lang Lang’s tests of dynamic fortitude. “Personality with polish,” as Ponchard remarked.

However, away from the glam and tinsel, the same more-or-less applies to the Passat 206TSI, even if some of that semi-autonomous wizardry hasn’t (yet) filtered down through the range.

Crucially, Kia is on a similar mission with the audacious (and less-costly) Stinger, and that car struts its stuff with arguably more personality and greater thrills for fewer dollars, to tap into Australia’s fondness for all things rear-drive. The Arteon also seems expensive next to the vanishing VFII Calais V and its forthcoming replacement.

Still, in any other year, its Passat-plus virtues would probably have seen the Arteon sail through to the second round. But none of them really progress the premium mid-sized segment, so it’s here that Volkswagen’s wildcard bows out.

Take a long, hard look at the Arteon’s styling because it is believed to be the first to adopt Volkswagen’s new design language. While the sleek silhouette and frameless side windows won’t find their way onto the next-gen Golf, the horizontal-line grille treatment and LED-signature headlights might, as well as the wider tracks and shortened overhangs.

A shooting brake is also said to be on the drawing board, which might even spawn an Alltrack version.