Volkswagen's New Midsize Coupe concept is actually smaller than the maker's Jetta compact.

For now, at least, it goes by the decidedly unsexy name, the New Midsize Coupe concept, but Volkswagen’s sleek show car coming to the Beijing Auto Show next week is still likely to turn quite a few heads based on the initial sketches the maker has released.

The Coupe concept sits low and wide, with a curvaceous roofline and aggressive stance. And the term, “midsize,” is likely to come into question considering the show car is expected to measure barely 15 feet when it rolls out next week, making it shorter than the compact Volkswagen Jetta, never mind the maker’s current midsize, the Passat.

Explains a VW statement on the prototype, “The concept car outdoes the other two in terms of its width – and it is thus midsized. So clearly this concept car exhibits proportions of an extremely sporty nature.”

Volkswagen will debut the New Midsize Coupe concept in Beijing.

The project was directly overseen by the VW brand’s design chief Klaus Bischoff, and features not only the wider stance, but a long hood of more rear-wheel-drive proportions, muscular shoulders, swept-back C-pillars, and a short trunk lid suggesting a lot of emphasis was paid to the prototypes aerodynamics. The New Midsize Coupe concept sits on wide, 20-inch wheels and tires.

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VW says power will come from the brand’s familiar turbocharged 2.0-liter TSI gas engine, here tuned to make 220 horsepower. And despite the car’s proportions, power will be directed solely to the front wheels. It claims the concept can launch from zero to 100 kmh (or zero to 62.5 mph) in 6.5 seconds, with a rated top speed of 152 mph.

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VW isn’t saying anything about actual production plans – perhaps saving such additional details for its press launch this coming week in Beijing.