Considered to be a successor to the much loved Golf Cabriolet, and the first production coupe in the US for VW since the Corrado, the Eos (the word Eos is the name of the Greek goddess of dawn) was…..cute.
The production Eos was previewed back at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show by the Concept C. The design was penned by Peter Schreyer, the current head of Kia design since 2006. (his work includes every current Genesis, nearly every Kia since 2008, including the Borrego and Stinger, and also the original Audi TT.) The centerpiece of the concept was its 5 part metal folding roof. Back in ‘04 this was impressive in that the roof managed to fold and incorporate a full sunroof.
This surprisingly made it to production when the final version of the Eos was shown first at the Frankfurt show in ‘05, and the LA auto show in ‘06. The Eos was produced at VW’s Autoeuropa plant in Portugal for its entire run.
The Eos and VW made sure that customers knew this thing was a comfortable cruiser before anything. It had no sporting pretensions about it. Riding on the VW A5 Modular Platform (which it shared with a whopping 18 other vehicles including the first gen Tiguan, Golf Mk5 & 6, 3 different SEAT’s, the Mk2 A3 and TT and the first gen Q3) it shared most components with the Mk5 Golf with a wheelbase also matching it and the Jetta. At the time it came into the VW lineup, it was positioned above the Beetle convertible (a base Eos started at $27,990 to the Beetle Convertible’s $22,120).
Here in the US we got two engine choices: a 200 horse 2.0L turbo 4 powering the front wheels through a choice of either a 6 speed manual or an optional 6 speed DSG, or the more powerful 3.2L V6 with 250 horses.
Of course, the manual wasn’t available with the V6. 0-60 was reportedly a not too bad 6.9 seconds. The V6 brought that down to 6.5. International engine choices included 4 gas engines and one diesel. Suspension tuning was for cruising and comfort more than anything. Steering was reportedly numb and vague feeling which isnt surprising. Meaning this thing was a top down blouvaider before anything. Competitors at the time were Pontiac G6 and the Volvo C70 among others. A bragging point for some reason was the complex top took nearly 30 seconds to lower as well. Which is pretty long but understandable given the complexity of the roof.
Most automotive publications were pretty neutral on it. It did what it did non offensively. It was a comfortable 4 seat convertible with styling that for the most part was invisible. The main complaint I could find about it was that the folding top severely compromised trunk space when it was stowed. From what I could see as well, no one had any severe problems with them. Though with this being VW I could be wrong. It was produced from 2006-2015. It was never a strong seller. A high price combined with it being less practical than not only the segment leader at the time (the Chrysler Sebring Convertible) but also everything else insured that it was pretty much a niche here in the US. Its best year here only saw 12,837 sales. And that was 2008. Sales never touched 8k. Dealers were selling less than 500 units every month. Its a wonder that the thing stayed in the lineup for 9 years.
