The End of the Passat?

 

 

I had a suspicion that this might be the case ever since I heard about the Tenn. plant and VW's audicious plan to sell 500,000 units in the U.S. The reality is that the current Passat is left out in the cold. The current Jetta is about the size of my B5.5 Passat while the current Passat, the B 6, is somewhat larger than my Passat. The new car will be larger still, making the current Passat superfluous.

With exchange rates, it's tough to sell the current Passat here in the states as a competitor to the likes of the Accord, Altima, Mazda 6 etc. It has always commanded a premium of 10% to 15% over similar models. Honda faces a similiar situation. The Acura TSX is the European Accord, and our Accord has traditionally been a larger car. Even in Europe the Passat is a price point competitor to the lower priced offerings from BMW, not to mention models like the Mondeo and Insignia. Remeber too that for a while VW marketed a W8 model Passat with a Haldex AWD system, and even here in the states that model approached $40,000.00.

Thankfully the CC (the most beautiful 4 door car in the world today) will stay at least through the current model year. Even the top models in the CC range exceed $40,000.00, and a well equipped 2.0 litre FSI turbo runs in the mid $30,000.00 range.

But my Passat continues to go strong. Every day I marvel at its quiet urbane good looks, clearly inspired by the Bauhaus school of design. The Passat has been a game changer, pushing other cars to ever more confident and forceful designs and higher and higher quality interiors. It has been a benchmark for years. Without the Passat, I venture to say we would not see the high quality interiors that have come to characterize cars like the new Taurus and Freestyle. Look at the curved roof line of many modern midsized sedans, a feature directly derived from the Passat.

The influence of the Passat will last long after it has left the marketplace.

At night, just before I go to sleep, I also give it one last admiring look and a gentle good night kiss. For I say unto you...it is truly written that some day all will bow at the Altar of Wolfsburg.

 

 

Jay ... the navigator is probably feeling a bit neglected right now

 

J, you crack me up. Eloquent, informative and yet amusing as always.

 

i'm glad the jetta got bigger, my mkiv jetta shoulda been a 2 door, thats how small it was hell the gti mkiv had more rear leg room