The Volkswagen Passat hits its half-century this year and like many 50-year-olds it’s marking the occasion with some major cosmetic surgery. According to news reports, the head of the VW brand has promised an all-new B9-generation Passat on sale in Europe this September.
Thomas Schaefer also confirmed to Automotive News Europe that the new model will be offered only as a wagon, ditching the sedan bodystyle. The mass-market sedan market has shrunk rapidly in Europe, but buyers wishing for a traditional notchback rear will still get an option from the VW Group: the Skoda Superb.
The Czech company’s flagship car is using the same platform as the Passat, and even features the same running gear. The next-generation Superb is set to arrive before the end of the year with a choice of sedan and estate body styles. Well, we say ‘sedan’ but most likely the Skoda will once again be a liftback rather than a true sedan with a separate trunk.
What’s particularly interesting is that Skoda was charged with developing both the Passat and Superb. Schaefer told Automotive News Europe that this illustrated how VW’s brands were now working more closely than they had in the past, while still managing to retain their independence and identity through different designs.
Related: Everything We Know About Volkswagen’s Electrified 2024 Passat Wagon
We’ve spotted the new Passat testing on multiple occasions and know it will take on a slightly sportier appearance characterized by a more pronounced slope in the rear window. It will also feature a narrow grille like the Mk8 Golf’s (disguised with tape on the prototypes pictured here) and a large square tablet touchscreen plus a digital instrument pack. What might turn out to be the final generation of Passat will certainly be the last to come with a combustion engine, most cars being driven by 1.5-liter mild hybrid or 1.5-liter PHEV four-cylinder powertrains, the latter delivering up to 268 hp (282 PS) and much as 62 miles (100 km) of electric driving range.
VW has turned the Passat’s former production home, the Emden plant in Germany, over to the ID.4 and upcoming ID.7, so both the Passat and Superb will be built in Bratislava, which also where the VW e-Up electric city car and the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg are built. Needless to say, neither the Superb nor the Passat will be making their way to North America, where the unrelated Tennessee-built Passat sedan was axed in 2022.
The image at the top of this story is a Carscoops artist’s impression of how the 2024 Passat might look and is not endorsed by Volkswagen.
