Volkswagen Touran Match released

Volkswagen has announced the VW Touran MatchThe VW Touran is VW’s answer to the Vauxhall Zafira and Renault Scenic – a more petite people carrier. Based on the VW Golf underpinnings, it is a safe and conservative – some might say boring – seven-seat, mid-sized people, carrier.

It’s hard to get excited about the Touran, with its boxy profile and drab – though comfortable – interior. But it’s very practical with its three rows of seats, which can actually be removed (they aren’t too heavy) giving you a very useful van for lugging gubbins around.

But the Touran is a decent enough drive, even if the ride is a bit on the firm side., and its build quality shows through in the distinct lack of shake, rattle and roll.

But now it’s time for the Limited Edition / High Spec /Value for money option, so VW has released the VW Touran Match. It offers £1600 worth of extras for a £500 premium which, assuming they’re extras you actually want, offers good value. You get front and rear park assist and the RNS310 SatNav in the deal. You alos get a multi-function wheel, MDI and iPod connection. You also get a new set of alloys, twiddles to the grill, smoky covers for the lights and privacy glass.

Engines are the 1.4 litre TSI, 1.9 litre TDI and two power levels of the 2.0 litre TDI. Gearbox is a six-speed manual with either a six or seven speed DSG ‘box depending on model. There is also a Touran Match BlueMotion.

Volkswagen Polo UK details

Volkswagen has released prices and specs for the UK of the new VW PoloThe VW Polo has been a huge success for Volkswagen. Over 11 million Polos have been sold since it was first launched nearly 35 years ago. But one thing you could never accuse the Polo of was being exciting. It was dull, well made and economical transport. But the world is changing and every car maker is bringing out funky economy models that compete hard against the Polo. So VW had to get its act together on the latest VW Polo. Fortunately it has.

The new Polo is a good looking car, taking design cues from VW’s successful Scirroco.It is bigger than the outgoing model but lighter, and has managed some good improvements in economy and emissions. Which is all good news. So there should be fair few takers for the new Polo, which arrives in UK showrooms in October, with orders starting from now.

On offer is a range of five engines (more to follow) – three petrol and 2 diesel. You can have the naturally aspirated 1.2 litre petrol with either 60 or 70 PS or the 1.4 litre with 85PS. The diesel units are both 1.6 litre common-rail units with either 75 or 90PS.

Volkswagen has had a play with the trim levels on the Polo, and you now get a choice of four – S, Moda (the funky one), SE and SEL. GTI and BlueMotion models will follow next year. VW is also offering some pretty upmarket options for an eco-box, including touchscreen SatNav, Climate and DAB.

New Volkswagen Golf Plus BlueMotion Introduced

Volkswagen has introduced the new VW Golf Plus BlueMotionThere seem to be even more new VW Golf variants than there are Porsche 911s, and now we’ve got a new one to add to the mix – the new Volkswagen Golf Plus BlueMotion – as part of the VW Golf Economy Range.

The new VW Golf Plus Bluemotion is basically a Golf Plus with the standard BlueMotion tricks added to improve economy and emissions. These include low rolling resistance tyres, revised gear ratios, start-stop and regenerative braking – the usual box of tricks.

The 1.6 litre common rail diesel engine in the Golf Plus BlueMotion – down from 1.9 litres in the old Golf Plus BlueMotion – manages 65.7 mpg and emissions of 114g/km, an improvement of 11% in economy and 10% in emissions. The upside of all this is a big drop in the benefit in kind cost and big savings on fuel. VW reckons that the average Golf driver – who does around 8,000 miles a year – will only have to fill up once a month.

The new VW Golf Plus BlueMotion comes in either S or SE trim levels, and the price premium over the standard Golf Plus is £325, meaning the Golf Plus BlueMotion starts at £17,570. And the trim levels are half-decent. The SE gets ABS and ESP, together with six airbags and AirCon. Move up to the SE and you get Park Assist, Cruise and alloys. You also get the irritating little light telling you to change gear on both models.

Test Drive: 2010 new Volkswagen Eos 2.0T

Eos, for those not well-versed in Greek mythology, was their culture’s goddess of the dawn. So it’s not some made-up corporate-speak name like “Integra,” even if the average recognition level with Americans hovers close to 0%. Sadly, America’s recognition of the Volkswagen Eos in general has been hovering near 0% since it first debuted here way back in 2006; on sale for four years now, you still only occasionally see Eos convertibles on the road today.

Why has this car enjoyed such minimal market success here where other VW convertibles have succeeded so greatly (Cabrio, Beetle Cabrio)? Perhaps it’s important to examine what the Eos is and what the Eos is not.

The Eos is: Clever.

The Eos isn’t the first car to have a folding, retractable metal hard-top. If you want to be technical, Ford was doing it back in the 60′s -- but the first modern adapter of the PRHT concept was Mitsubishi with it’s ASC-engineered 3000GT Spyder back in 1996. What makes the Eos’s metal-origami roof clever, then? Well, not only is it a coupe and convertible, but it’s also got a sliding glass sunroof incorporated into it -- for when you want some wind and sun, but not all of it. Clever stuff. Watching the roof go up and down is a spectacle, as it always is with these folding-hardtop cars.

Technical cleverness on the Eos is more than skin deep, too. Like almost every VW, it comes equipped with the 2.0TSI turbo motor. And while you can get it with a traditional six-speed manual in base “Komfort” trim, the optional 6-speed DSG Automatic is a nerd’s transmission dream. This twin-clutch automated manual shifts right now, not in a second -- by design, it’s always got the gear above and below the one you’re in pre-selected on the other clutch, so no matter which way you go it’s just a matter of swapping clutches. If you’ve never driven a car with a DSG, you wouldn’t believe how creepy it feels. There’s no shift interruption at all; there’s not really even a bump when you change gears -- the rpms just drop and you’re in the next gear.

The Eos is: Cute.

This is important for the Eos’ two primary clienteles, which I figure to be: Florida retirees, and upper-class Sorority girls. It’s cute as a button. Just looking at it, you want to give it a hug. This means it has approximately 0 appeal to people like me, who are more into torque curves than body curves. Still, relative to it’s competition (which these days are cheap four-seat drop tops like the Sebring and V6 Mustang) it’s much better looking. But if I wanted to have a cute 4-seat drop top, for this price it’d be a Cooper S JCW, which is actually fun to drive… which brings us to our next point.

The Eos is Not: Fun to drive.

Sorry. All that German heritage, cool technology, turbochargers and DSG gearboxes and TLA’s does not make the Eos fun to drive. It’s a significantly heavier MKV GTI, and if you know anything about cars, heavier is bad. The 2.0T feels overburdened in the Eos, with much more noticeable turbo lag than in a GTI or Jetta. There used to be an optional 3.2L 250bhp VR6, but VW killed that option in 2009 when they realized no one really cared how fast the Eos is. The DSG transmission is cool, but it’s not the most intelligent gearbox out there when it’s in regular “drive” mode, popping off upshifts at part throttle as early as it can to save gas, and while downshifts themselves are quick and seamless, it’s almost like you’re sending a request to a group committee to get one to happen.

Pop the shifter down into “sport” mode and it hands onto revs with tenacity, happily cruising along at 4,000 rpm and refusing to upshift. Which would make sense if you’re carving corners in a GTI, but in a 3,600lb Eos, it feels like it’s breathing heavily just to keep up. There’s a “shift it yourself” gate, but no paddle shifters to go along with it, so you end up not bothering most of the time.

But remember, this car is for Florida retirees and sorority girls, two groups which frankly don’t give a crap about torque curves and transmission downshift response. They mainly care that it’s cute.

The Eos Is: A Cruiser.

Once you get out of red-mist full blooded attack mode, it starts to make more sense. Hold down the fancy chrome lever and watch the top fold. Turn on the stereo to your local mix channel, relax in the comfortable leather seat, and just float down the road. Here it comes into it’s own: the tight structure doesn’t transmit rattles and shimmys like a Sebring, and if it’s not as pretty as the now-dead Pontiac G6 convertible, it doesn’t have a wheezing asthmatic pushrod V6 you need to drown out with Oldies, either.

The ride is squishy-soft compared to the CC Sport I jumped out of into this. There’s body roll, perhaps not Buick quantities. It actually rebounds over bumps. This isn’t a sports car, so don’t mistake it for one and you’ll enjoy it a lot more.

Conclusion: The Eos is a great car for someone wholly unlike myself.

Maybe it’s my own fault for lacking a certain depth of understanding. The Eos wasn’t built for me. Car guys should -- and will -- skip this chic cruisermobile over in favor of the lighter, cheaper, stiffer, more fun-to-drive MKVI GTI. If you’re a retiree or a sorority pledge, you’ll be pleased as punch with an Eos. And that’s what defines a good product -- how well it’ll satisfy it’s intended audience. Here, it’s a direct hit.

2010 Volkswagen Eos Lux

Base price: $32,390 (Eos Komfort)
Price as tested: $40,790 (Eos Lux)

Base price: $27,760
Price as tested: $28,560

Body: Unit-construction 2-door folding hardtop convertible
Drivetrain: transverse front-engine, front wheel drive
Accomodations: 4 passengers

Engine: Cast-iron Inline 4 cylinder with aluminum head
Displacement: 2.0L
Aspiration: Turbocharged, intercooled (Borg-Warner K03 sport turbo, air-to-air intercooler)
Fuel delivery: High-pressure direct injection
Valvetrain: Chain-driven dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, hydraulic lifters, VVT
Compression ratio: 9.6:1
Horsepower: 200bhp@5,100-6,000rpm
Torque: 207lb-ft@1,700-5,000rpm
Rev limit: 7,000rpm

0-60mph: 7.4 seconds (mfr claim)
Top speed: 130mph, electronically limited (mfr claim)
EPA fuel mileage estimate: 22 city/29 hwy
Recommended fuel: 93 octane premium unleaded

Wheelbase:101.5?
Length: 173.6?
Track (F/R): 60.8?/61.1?
Width: 70.5?
Height: 56.8:”
Curb weight: 3,569lbs (with DSG)

Pros: Painfully cute, reasonable pricing, great cruiser convertible for the Florida crowd, nifty folding hardtop with built in sunroof
Cons: Painfully cute, Not exactly fun to drive, DSG transmission seems confused, 2.0T overburdened, small trunk with roof down
Conclusion: If you’ve been missing the Golf Cabrio since it’s death, this is the car for you. If you like autocrossing and track days, it most certainly is not.

A special thank-you to Chris Duncan at Southern States Volkswagen in Raleigh, NC for letting me test drive the CC and putting up with all my questions.

New Volkswagen’s Superb TwinCharger Engine

The good die young. This simple statement happens all the time in our lives. The superb, eco-friendly, very tractable 1.4 turbocharged and supercharged engine that Volkswagen calls the ‘Twincharger’ may die a premature death.

This fabulous engine was VW’s answer to make smaller engines as powerful as ones with a larger capacity. People used to say that there’s no substitute for cubic inches and this little Twincharger has made the playing field a little more even for the small boys. VW were actually pretty confident of this little engine that they plonked one in the Scirocco 1.4TSI and in the Polo GTI. Unfortunately, VW now claims that these babies are expensive to produce and they are seriously considering replacing them with one that has a single turbocharger.

What they’re basically doing is replacing an engine that has been crowned “Engine of the Year” both in 2009 and 2010. I suppose real technical progress has to suffer as a result of the bean counters located in VW’s accounting department complaining about added costs. Some Smart Alec there must have voiced their discontent that plonking in an extra item in an engine increases costs. Imagine if they produced 100,000 1.4TSI engines and if the cost of adding a supercharger will cost VW $100 per unit that would mean ordering $10,000,000 worth of supercharger. So if they produced a 1.4 with only a turbocharger instead of two types of forced induction machinery, they’d save a whole lot of cash. Of course it makes perfect sense, but you don’t get to see something different and unique powering certain VWs anymore. And that’s pretty sad news to me.

So what does VW do to comfort us poor souls who are enthralled with new and innovative technology for the cars we see on our roads? It tells the chaps at Autocar (whose sources first brought forward this piece of news) that turbocharging technology has now advanced a fair bit and they believe that they can achieve the same performance figures that the Twincharger makes with their latest Direct-injection engines coupled with the latest turbocharging technology. I do not doubt the fact that VW can make this possible, but I just think that it is a slightly traditional and therefore slightly boring approach to engine development.

Don’t you just hate the people in accounting? This is just like British Airways stopping the Concorde from flying due to costs. Imagine the fact that people in the 1970s and 1980s can cross the Atlantic ocean faster that they can do so now. Imagine us motorheads losing another unique piece of engine technology. This piece of news isn’t as epic as the Concorde not flying, but it is sad news indeed.

New Volkswagen Jetta 2.0 TSI Sport DSG

What is it?

Volkswagen’s all-new Jetta saloon. It’s headed to UK showrooms in spring 2011, but it’ll be bigger news in the US, a market much keener on compact saloons for which this improved and enlarged version of VW’s Golf-based four-door has been expressely designed.

VW is aiming for massive sales gains in North America over the next five years. Previous versions of its Jetta and Passat have been over-priced and over-specified for US tastes, it says, and also extremely difficult to make a profit from, having been built in Europe and imported to the US.

See the road test pics of the VW Jetta

This new Jetta will be built exclusively in Puebla, Mexico, and goes on sale in the US this year for less than $16,000. Which makes it as cheap as a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic saloon; cheaper even than a Chevy Cruze in Chevrolet’s home market.

Unfortunately, UK versions of the Jetta won’t be such compelling value – but they should still look cheap. While entry-level US Jettas make do with cheaper multi-point injection petrol engines, less standard equipment, hydraulic power steering, a torsion beam rear axle and slightly harder cabin plastics, British ones will get more expensive TSI and TDI powerplants, multi-link rear suspension, electro-mechanical power steering and proper slush-moulded dashboards. So they’ll cost more than US Jettas to make.

Still, the Jetta should start at roughly £17k for a 1.2 TSI in the UK, rising to around £22k for a range-topping 2.0 TSI petrol with DSG – value which, for a roomy family saloon, isn’t to be sneezed at.

What’s it like?

Our test Jetta was a 197bhp 2.0 TSI DSG – a close, if not quite perfect match for the range-topping Jetta that’ll be offered in the UK next year.

VW has added 90mm to the overall length of this car. It’s lost some of the appealing compactness of the old Bora and current Jetta as a result. But with 70mm of that extra length gone into the wheelbase, the Jetta’s now a cleverly packaged, surprisingly accommodating passenger car. Golf-derived it may be, but there’s more legroom in the back of the new Jetta than you’ll find in a Honda Accord, Seat Exeo or Volvo S40, and enough head and shoulder space for a 6ft 3in occupant to get truly comfortable. The Jetta’s boot is an enormous one too: 510 litres with the seats up.

The cabin quality and material tactility of our test car was good, if not quite up to Wolfsburg standards, but both will be improved in time for the Jetta’s European launch. In the main, the car’s cabin fixtures and fittings felt solid and expensive, in line with those of a familiar European Golf.

Second-rate refinement is another way you might have expected a Mexican-built VW to fall short of European standards, but this Jetta won’t confirm expectations that way, either. Mechanical refinement is very good; our TSI was smoother and quieter than a Golf GTI. It wasn’t quite as well isolated from wind and road noise, and didn’t quite have the same hushed and absorbent secondary ride as the Golf. Still, its rolling refinement felt good enough to put the likes of the Renault Laguna and Honda Accord to shame.

Slightly slacker body control made our Jetta fall short of the Golf’s standards on handling and roadholding, but that was at least partly due to softer North American chassis settings.

On northern California’s twisting coastal ‘Route 1’, the Jetta felt like a larger and slightly more cumbersome drive than the old car, and lacked a little of the trademark precision of European VWs. However, it provided just enough cornering composure to make for a sporting drive at times, without compromising the above-average refinement expected of a saloon car.

A flexible engine and adaptable DSG gearbox made the Jetta feel a fast enough performer too, with a generous reserve of power for overtaking.

Should I buy one?

You should seriously think about it. Especially if your initial reaction was to dismiss this new Jetta as the usual pokey old Golf saloon, because you’ll be surprised at how capacious it is, and therefore at the value it represents.

VW will quite neatly capture the European D-segment in a pincer movement with this car. By the middle of 2011 it will be offering a larger, more upmarket and more expensive new Passat to those who might otherwise buy a BMW 3-series or a high-end Ford Mondeo. And at the cheaper and more compact end of the market, VW will have this new Jetta to put up against the Renault Laguna, Volvo S40 and Citroen C5.

Against those second-string family saloons, provided VW delivers on the quality promises it’s making about the European versions of the Jetta, we can well imagine that it’ll find a keen following in the UK. It’s not quite a Skoda Superb with a VW badge on the nose, but it has a little of the Skoda’s magic ingredient: it just seems to deliver more than expected for your money.

New Volkswagen Passat: More Wagen, More Volk?

Here it is: the new Volkswagen Passat Wagon 2011 VW wants to take America. How can I do? It's $ 7,000 cheaper than the previous Passat, while growing.
Just as it did with the new Jetta, the Passat has dropped the price increase to what they think the American mid-size sedan customers really want - more space for less money. Although started at $ 27,000 the Passat, VW will be sent to a new base model with sub-$ 20,000 sticker, is specifically designed for the mass testing of cupholders in the four-cylinder Camry, contracts and sonatas.

The new Passat will be three engine options: 2.5-liter 5-cylinder, good for 170 horsepower and 177 lb.-ft. torque, 2-liter diesel engine with four cylinders, 3.6-liter VR6 with 280 hp and 258 lb.-ft. Passat has a base five-cylinder with five-speed gearbox, the six-speed automatic to most customers.

VW Passat body has grown four inches to 191.4 inches and now promotes the most legroom in the back of the classroom. As for the interior of the VW promised that the show the similarity Tiguan dashboard "much more expensive car, check.

But the growing-but-get-cheaper Jetta transformation is particularly welcome to his fans. It is also contrary to the efforts of another automaker not normalize their models around the world, but to add more features for all classes of lower prices.

And here's what VW will offer Passat buyers in Europe, where it's still a near-luxury car:

Here, as the new Minister of State for U. S. Golf:
Men from Wolfsburg spend $ 1 billion in new factories in Tennessee only medium sedan. Volkswagen wants the world's largest automaker in 2018, and it takes nearly tripled its sales in the U.S. than 360,000 last year to 1 million 800 thousand, which would be the VW models - makes a big VW and Nissan today.

In America, "Frankly, we lost our way," said Jonathan Browning, VW in the U.S. is safe. "We have become a marginal player in this one of the major world markets. It is not acceptable."

He reached the stage of the band Train, whose lead singer, Pat Monahan thanked the company. "Many of us were conceived in a VW bus, so thanks for life"

For all VW history in the U.S., the beetle and other iconic vehicle that has a history of Americans expect orders from Germany and has excited when they misbehave. It did not work with the Phaeton, Volkswagen is working with a badge indicating the Chrysler minivan than a Microbus revival of his own. If a train that VW wants to maximize the audience for their work. The trick is to get people to tune in instead of tune out.

2012 Volkswagen Passat at 2011 Detroit Auto Show

2012 Volkswagen Passat Front Angle View

2012 Volkswagen Passat Luxury Car

2012 Volkswagen Passat Front Seats Photo

2012 Volkswagen Passat Side View

2012 Volkswagen Passat Car Interior

2012 Volkswagen Passat at 2011 Detroit Auto Show

2012 Volkswagen Passat Rear Angle View

2012 Volkswagen Passat Backseat Photo

2012 Volkswagen Passat Rear Side View

2012 Volkswagen Passat Pictures

2012 Volkswagen Passat US Version

Volkswagen has officially announced the New Midsize Sedan (NMS) will be called the Passat in North America. the 2012 Volkswagen Passat is larger than its predecessors and will be built to match the tastes and lifestyle of Americans.

The 2012 Vw Passat will be available in three equipment lines: S, SE and SEL.

The 2012 Passat will offer a five-cylinder gasoline engine rated 170 hp, a four-cylinder diesel rated 140 hp, and a V-6 gas engine rated 280 hp.

Base model will start under $20 000, much cheaper than the previous model.




Press Release

VOLKSWAGEN REVEALS THE ALL-NEW PASSAT - A FIRST-IN-CLASS VEHICLE THAT DELIVERS SUPERIOR GERMAN ENGINEERING AND IS BUILT IN AMERICA

The larger, sophisticated Passat offers best-in-class rear legroom, remarkable fuel efficiency estimated at 43 mpg with a driving experience only Volkswagen can deliver.

Wolfsburg / Herndon / Detroit - Volkswagen of America, Inc., today announced the world debut of the all-new Passat, a transformational car in Volkswagen's ambitious growth plan for the U.S. market.

Designed in Germany and made in America, the Passat was developed as a larger vehicle with premium features and handling characteristics that will perfectly match it with the tastes and lifestyles of Americans. It will be built in Chattanooga, Tenn., at the world's newest, most advanced and environmentally responsible auto assembly plant.

The new Passat, the largest ever, is the only midsize sedan that offers superior German engineering at an accessible price. The Passat TDI - the only clean diesel option in the segment - is expected to deliver 43 miles per gallon on the highway, with a range of approximately 800 miles.

Final pricing will be announced in the spring, but the Passat will start at around $20,000 when it arrives in dealer showrooms later this year. It will come with premium standard features that include automatic climate control and Bluetooth connectivity.

The new Passat offers best-in-class legroom, Volkswagen's Care Free Maintenance program (3 years/36,000 miles) and the safety of Volkswagen's Intelligent Crash Response System.

Volkswagen's new Chattanooga plant that will produce the Passat is part of a $4 billion investment by the company in the U.S. market. The environmentally friendly facility includes a revolutionary paint shop that significantly reduces emissions. A state-of-the art $40 million employee training center ensures adherence to Volkswagen's exacting quality standards.

The Passat will set new benchmarks for safety, driving performance and environmental responsibility in the midsize segment.

Engine and Transmission

The all-new Passat offers three drivetrain options: a responsive 2.5L gasoline engine, a remarkably eco-friendly 2.0L TDI Clean Diesel and a powerful 3.6L VR6.

The 2.5L five cylinder engine (170 hp/177 lb.-ft.), which is being offered in the Passat for the first time, will be mated to a standard 5 speed manual transmission. As an alternative, the 2.5 multi port injection engine may be paired with a 6-speed automatic.

The quiet, four cylinder 2.0L TDI Clean Diesel (140 hp/236 lb.-ft.) has the power of a six cylinder gasoline engine and the fuel economy of a hybrid. The Passat TDI is expected to deliver 43 miles per gallon on the highway, with a range of approximately 800 miles. Volkswagen's TDI clean diesel engines, which come with a NOx storage catalytic converter, are among the cleanest engines in the world, fulfilling emissions requirements in all 50 states. Optional on the Passat TDI will be Volkswagen's legendary 6-speed DSG transmission.

The 3.6 liter VR6 (280 hp/258 lb.-ft.) makes the new Passat a top-flight sport sedan. It offers power and luxury-class driving comfort, with European-type restraint in its fuel consumption - estimated at 28 mpg on the highway.

Gear shifting on the new Passat VR6 is handled by a standard 6-speed DSG; the dual-clutch transmission is considered the most efficient automatic in the world. This technologically advanced six-speed transmission incorporates an automatic dual-clutch system that instantly engages and disengages gears without the need for a clutch pedal. With a special computer controlling the process, one clutch is engaged on the next gear while the clutch from the previous gear is released. The results are crisp, quick shifts, without the loss of power that is experienced with a traditional manual gearbox.

Premium Features

The Passat will be offered in three trim levels, S SE and SEL, with a total of 16 equipment levels. All will offer first-in-class safety and comfort.

The Passat's safety features include Volkswagen's advanced Intelligent Crash Response Systems, which initiates automatic safety protections in a collision - the fuel supply and high consumption electronic equipment shuts off; the doors unlock; the battery terminal disconnects from the alternator cable; the hazard lights switch on.

The Passat also comes with a tire pressure monitoring system, ESP electronic stabilization program, ABS with braking assistant, Hill Climb Assist (with manual transmission), six airbags and an extremely rigid body structure to protect the driver and passengers.

The Passat sets new standards for comfort, with a significantly larger rear seating area, best-in-class rear seat legroom, well-designed controls and superior touring properties.

Other standard features include automatic climate control, power windows all around, air conditioning, insulating glass, a distinctive analog clock at the center of the instrument panel, cruise control, outside temperature display with frost warning, radio-CD system (MP3-capable, plus external audio input) and Bluetooth connectivity.

Premium options include 17- and 18-inch alloy wheels, power seat adjustment, leather, leather-trimmed multifunction steering wheel, a touchscreen satellite radio, a choice of Volkswagen's RNS 510 or RNS 315 navigation systems, front fog lights with static cornering lights, wood decor, new ambiance lighting, memory driver's seat, power passenger seat, and keyless access with push button start.

The Passat will also offer the new Fender premium audio system, designed exclusively for Volkswagen. In a partnership that combined quality automotive engineering and quality sound engineering, Volkswagen and Fender teamed up to bring the raw emotion of live music to the driving experience.

Exterior

The Passat's balanced proportions give it a unique, timeless and dominant styling reflecting the "design DNA" developed by Walter de Silva, the Italian design chief for the Volkswagen Group and Klaus Bischoff, the German design leader for the Volkswagen Brand. The signature clean design, with a predominance of horizontal body elements, reinforces the Passat's position as the sophisticated choice in the midsize segment. The bottom line: this car looks much more expensive than it actually is.

The key identifying feature of a strong brand is the styling of its front end. Here the Passat displays the new horizontal brand face, with the grille and headlights forming a single unit. Unlike models in the compact class, the Passat's grille is sculpted in a three-dimensional shape. Moreover, the grille stands more upright and makes a more distinctive and elegant impression in its stricter geometry.

From the side profile, the muscular ridge in the sill area creates a lively interplay of light reflections. Powerfully sculpted wheel arches emphasize the dynamic properties of the Passat. In the balance of the side profile, the roof lines flow toward the back with a nearly coupe-like cut of the rear window. Three side windows create luxury class style with a long, extended glass surface.

The rear section is also dominated by horizontal lines. The lines of the large taillights rise toward the sides, underscoring the dynamics of the elegant rear styling. Another unique feature here is the design of the two-part taillights (integrated in the rear fender and trunk lid).

Interior

The Passat shows the look of considerably more expensive cars. The new, larger Passat is 191.7 inches long and has a 110.4 inch wheelbase, which translates into a noticeable increase in rear seating space.

Like the exterior, the interior is also marked by a clean and geometric formal structure. Interior styling consistently follows the maxims of functionality. Controls are attractive and easy to operate.

The instrument panel is similar to that of Volkswagen's flagship vehicle, the all-new Touareg. Chrome trimmed gauges surround a digital multifunction display. A high-end chrome look is also applied to the air vents in the cockpit, and to the surrounds of the radio, navigation system and the climate control panels. The rotary light switch and parking brake handle button are also treated in chrome. Except for the base version, all other Passat trims have chrome interior accents on the window, mirror adjustment and trunk opening switches.

The upper and lower instrument areas are visually distinguished by various decorative accents, depending on the equipment version. Decorative elements in "Titan" design are used in the S version; the elegant "Titan Silver Printed" decor is used in the SE version, wood décor "Autumn Nut Burl" is featured in the exclusive SEL version. The accents not only upgrade the instruments, but also the center console as well as the door trim panels.

The seats are exceptionally comfortable. Even in the base version, the driver's seat is adjustable eight ways, including lumbar support.

The new Passat and the all-new Jetta are expected to be the sales leaders in Volkswagen's plan to significantly increase market share in the United States. The company's strategy is built on a broad portfolio of products that offers cars accessible to the majority as well as vehicles for car enthusiasts.