Volkswagen Passats from all eras are a very common sight on all roads, on all continents and are still appreciated by a wide array of drivers with differing needs. People even still run the first-gen model, deliveries of which began in July of 1973, as well as the newer ones, though the latter aren’t as cherished as the Giugiaro-designed original.
Still, around the parts where I live, the Passat is considered a car which can really take a beating, and thus most are abused and tatty, yet still run pretty much as intended.
Now, VW is celebrating the model’s 40th birthday, which by the end of 2012, had already sold in excess of 20 million vehicles and derivatives. Furthermore, it seems that sales of the US-specific model are also going well, as the locally-built model has celebrated a milestone of its own relatively recently – production of vehicle number 250,000 at the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant.
The current, seventh-gen European Passat, which is basically a re-skin and refresh of the sixth-gen model, is still going strong, with plenty of adepts, yet the sector is becoming increasingly competitive, more so than it has ever been, I think, and thus, people may start disliking its dull design, by comparing it to some of its more stylish rivals.
Interior quality and solidity are still reference points in the sector, but the gap between it and its competitors, in that area is actually far smaller than you may have been lead to believe…
By Andrei Nedelea
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