MID-SIZE VW SEDAN GETS A BRAND NEW LOOK
Volkswagen’s 2020 Passat aims to be a car for those who find an SUV too big
Contrary to popular MARICOPA, ARIZ. belief, the market for roomy sedans still has a pulse.
Yes, GM might have stopped giving its Impala any love, and Ford has iced the Fusion. But Toyota and Honda are still selling plenty of Camrys and Accords, about 15,000 each in Canada over the past few years.
In the U.S., cars still capture about 27 per cent of new-car buyers. It’s into this pond for mid-size cars that Volkswagen is returning, with its redesigned 2020 Passat mid-size sedan. “We made a choice that we were not going to abdicate this market,” says Thomas Tetzlaff, Volkswagen Canada’s manager of media relations. “It’s still a quarter of the market, and we want to be there.”
Arriving in summer of 2019, the 2020 Passat will continue to ride on the same chassis, and use the same engine, as the existing car, a 2.0-litre turbo with 174 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque, flowing through a six-speed automatic transmission. But the sheet metal will be all new, looking wider and a little sleeker, with some resemblance to the 2019 Jetta. In other words, nothing drastic like the Camry’s makeover last year, although an R-line option will add some sexier bits.
Features formerly found in more expensive trims will trickle down the line, so things such as blind-spot monitoring, LED headlamps and tail lamps, an eight-inch colour touch screen with satellite radio and App-Connect features will now be standard from the Trendline up. All-wheel drive is not an option, nor is a hybrid or manual transmission. Standard wheels are 17-inch alloys, but 18- and 19-inch options will be available, the latter on the R-line. Depending on the trim level, rain-sensing wipers, adaptive cruise control, ambient lighting and lane assist will be included.
The one thing Passat buyers kept telling VW was to make the four-door sedan less boring to look at, but keep the generous interior, rear seat and trunk space. That’s more or less what VW did, says Kai Oltmanns, Passat’s product marketing manager. “We kept what customers like,” he says. And it’s still a car for those who find an SUV too big, he says.
At VW’s proving grounds in Maricopa, Arizona, the 2020 Passat was hard to distinguish in its new skin, wrapped as it was in black-and-white swirl camouflage. But the interior, covered in black fabric because the car is yet to be revealed to the public, was not quite as concealed, and the fabric covering was not well fastened. Peeking behind the fabric revealed a linear dash with vents neatly integrated, and the infotainment system looks much like the one on the current Atlas. The touch screen, by the way, didn’t get marred with fingerprints when tapped, and there’s a volume knob. Instrumentation is analog — at least in the car we drove — but a credit cardsized digital screen between the gauges reveals more info. The seats were comfortable and the interior felt as solid as any Camry, Accord or Sonata.
On the proving grounds, the 2020 Passat rode admirably. On VW’s large, 7.5-kilometre (4.7-mile) oval with 33-degree banking, it took a firm pedal to reach 200 km/ h, but the car was able to comfortably handle the high speed. Throttle response was quick at the low end, but less so in the middle range. Engine noise was minimal, but wind noise was noticeable.
Over some rough back roads and undulating asphalt that pretty much represented most roads in Montreal, the Passat rode gracefully, if a little louder than we’d like, with road and tire noise filtering into the cabin. These were still pre-production cars, so it’s possible the final versions will be quieter.
The new Passat handled well, steered smartly and braked with confidence. It’s easy to drive. It’s no sports car, of course, but that’s never been the goal of this car, which began life in 1974 as the Dasher. That’s when it was still built in Germany, and it went on to become the Quantum in the second generation in 1982. Today, after sales of more than 1.7 million units through seven generations in North America, the Passat is built in Chattanooga, Tenn., just as it has been since 2011, when it was redesigned for the North American market, and it still has considerable life in it yet.