A few days ago, the real car of the brand new Passat PRO was exposed. As a new-generation model, the new car adopts a brand new exterior styling, continuing the front face design of the European version of the Passat wagon, but the three-box version is a model unique to China. According to the previous idea of the SAIC Volkswagen Tiguan L PRO, it is expected that the Passat PRO will also adopt the strategy of the new and old being sold together. The new car will be launched in the third quarter. For reference, the current selling price range of the existing Passat is 181,900 – 243,300 yuan.
In terms of appearance, the brand new Passat PRO adopts the latest family-style design language of the Volkswagen brand, drawing a lot from the design language of the “ID” family. It adopts a blackened front headlight group design, with the upper part being the through LED daytime running light that runs through the entire front face, and at the same time is equipped with a luminous brand LOGO. Just like the new Tiguan L PRO, it also provides two front face options, both of which adopt an upper and lower split grille design, and the main difference lies in the shape of the lower air inlet. Among them, the standard version adopts a large-size three-stage air inlet design and is decorated with dense条幅 trim strips inside to enhance the sense of refinement; the R-Line version adopts a through air inlet design and adds blackened reticular elements inside, and the two sides of the front bumper are also integrated with silver kits to enhance the sense of sport.
On the side of the body, the overall outline of the brand new Passat PRO is not much different from that of the current Passat. At the rear part of the car, a new-shaped through taillight design is adopted, and the irregular square lamp groups inside look full of a sense of technology. The new car is equipped with a small spoiler, and a through decorative strip is adopted at the rear bumper. In terms of dimensions, the new car has a length, width and height of 5006/1850/1489mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 2871mm, which is 58mm longer than the current Passat, and the wheelbase remains unchanged.
In terms of interior, referring to the overseas version models, the brand new Passat PRO also adopts the latest family language to build, and the overall design is more concise than that of the Tiguan L PRO. The car is equipped with a 10.25-inch full LCD instrument and is equipped with a HUD head-up display, and at the same time is replaced with a 15-inch floating central control large screen, which integrates the latest multimedia system, and touch-type physical buttons are retained below. As for whether the domestic model will be remodeled, such as adding a co-pilot screen, etc., it is not known yet.
In terms of power, different from the current model, the declared models of the brand new Passat PRO include 1.5T engine and 2.0T engine versions, with the maximum power of 118 kilowatts and 162 kilowatts respectively, and the transmission system is expected to match a 7-speed wet dual-clutch gearbox. For reference, the maximum power of the 1.4T engine of the existing Passat is 110kW, and the peak torque is 250N·m.
Passat is well known to everyone in the domestic market. As a medium-sized car with a long history, its position in the domestic market has even been comparable to that of the Audi A6, but with the rapid development of the automotive market, Passat has entered thousands of households and become a medium-sized family car. In July 2011, the brand new generation of Passat was officially announced in the domestic market, providing four displacements of 1.8T, 2.0T and 3.0L, and later launched a 1.4T power to meet consumers’ demands for comfort. In October 2018, the brand new Passat was officially launched, which is the domestic version of PASSAT B8, built based on the new MQB platform, canceling the 3.0L power of the previous generation model, and at the same time adding a PHEV model.
The one that is about to be launched is the brand new Passat PRO, which is the domestic version of PASSAT B9 and the domestic version of the European version of Passat. In the overseas market, Volkswagen has canceled the sedan version and only retains the wagon version, while in the Chinese market, SAIC Volkswagen and FAIC Volkswagen will still continue to launch the three-box version of Passat according to the domestic market demand, that is, a model unique to the Chinese market. Not long ago, the brand new Magotan was officially launched, with a price range of 17.99 – 24.69 yuan, which belongs to the domestic version of the American version of PASSAT.
Passat, Magotan, Accord and Camry are four benchmark-level products in the joint-venture medium-sized car market, and have completed the replacement successively in the past year. As a classic representative model of medium-sized sedans, the main competitors of the brand new Passat PRO include Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and Nissan Teana, especially Camry and Accord. The data shows that in the first half of the year, the sales volumes of Passat and Magotan were 103,000 and 76,200 respectively, while those of Camry and Accord were 60,500 and 66,300 respectively. After the replacement, the market performance of Accord and Camry is significantly sluggish.
Just like the replacement of models such as Camry and Accord, the biggest change of the new generation of Passat actually lies in the change of exterior and interior design, and the underlying structure has not changed. Although its overall size has increased, the wheelbase remains unchanged, and the 2.0T engine also continues the current model. Therefore, as a fuel car with a strong historical heritage, whether the ninth-generation Passat can continue the market heat is worthy of expectation in the current context of fierce competition in the electric vehicle market.