The Passat name might have vanished from U.S. Volkswagen brochures, but it still has a role to play in Europe, where work is nearing completion on the all-new B9-generation car.
For 2024 the compact sedan grows less compact thanks to a dramatic increase in wheelbase. VW bosses have twinned it with its Skoda Superb cousin, a car renowned for offering more rear passenger space than rivals due its generous proportions.
The new Passat won’t be a sedan, either. Volkswagen has decided to make the new model available only as a practical wagon, though that focus on practicality doesn’t appear to have come at the expense of style. These new spy shots of a white prototype show a long, fairly sleek car with shallow windows, a tapering roofline and sloping rear hatch that give it an unmistakably sporty vibe, and a look very similar to that of its Arteon Shooting Brake big brother.
Like previous Passat test cars, and pretty much every other Volkswagen prototype we’ve seen lately, this one is wearing a ton of taped-on disguise intended to trick us into thinking we’re looking at the current Passat. The real grille will be much narrower than this car’s stickers would have you believe, borrowing heavily from the Mk8 Golf, and there will also be more painted bumper surface below the headlights.
Related: 2023 VW Passat – Everything We Know About Europe’s Electrified Wagon
But we know that the B9’s cabin will have more in common with the brand’s ID electric cars than the Golf. Instrument duties are taken care of by a small digital gauge cluster directing ahead of the driver, while a new square infotainment screen tablet previously unveiled in the ID.7 electric sedan concept will sit on the center of the dash.
The Passat won’t be available with electric power, however. The nearest it will come is a PHEV consisting of an electric motor mated to VW’s 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, but there will also be simpler petrol and diesel options, albeit augmented by 48-volt mild hybrid tech to keep emissions down. But since Volkswagen is planning for 70 percent of its European sales to be electric by 2030, this is likely the last Passat to come with combustion power.
