AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)08/31 Report--

On August 31st, the official chart of Volkswagen's new generation Volkswagen Passat (B9) was officially released. The new car, built on the same MQB Evo platform as the new generation of Tiguan, is expected to be available in Europe in the first quarter of 2024 and may then be sold in the domestic market, although there is no definite news yet.

Unfortunately, Volkswagen has previously announced that the Passat hatchback version (the domestic equivalent "Maiteng") will be discontinued in Europe. In the future, Europe will no longer launch sedan models, but will only retain the travel version (domestic counterpart "Weizhao"). In short, the new generation of Passat sedan will only have the travel version, while the domestic hatchback version may become a special Chinese model. In addition, the production of the new car will also be transferred from the Emden factory in Germany to the Bratislava plant in Slovakia, that is, together with the new express school, the Bratislava plant in Slovakia, while the Emden plant in Germany will be used to produce the Volkswagen ID. Series of models.

The picture above shows a new generation of Volkswagen Passat;. The following picture shows a new generation of Volkswagen Passat eHYBRID.

From the newly released official map, in terms of appearance, the new car uses the latest family-style design language of the Volkswagen brand, which is obviously different from the old model. The front face part, the new car headlamp group uses a very long shape, and provides the optional configuration of the matrix LED headlamp, after the selection, the lighting range of the high beam lamp can reach 500m. The internal style of the front grille offers two designs according to different configurations, of which the fuel version is equipped with a conventional multi-banner styling intake grille, which has a more traditional visual effect; the eHYBRID version uses a more sporty black diamond mesh intake grille design, with a silver kit on both sides and an integrated R logo on the right side of the Logo, which is expected to be the R-Line sports version. In addition, ventilation grooves are designed on both sides of the front of the two models, which can provide higher heat dissipation effect for the front wheels.

On the side of the body, the new car has simple lines, with a waistline running through the whole body. The rear part of the car, as a travel version, does not have too much sunken design. On the contrary, the high and raised rear part of the car makes the rear part of the car look very full, while ensuring the spacious rear head space and trunk space. In addition, the rear of the new car is equipped with a through-type LED taillight group for the first time, with a through-type decorative strip around the rear and a hidden layout for exhaust, which looks relatively fashionable.

In the interior part, the new car is also built with Volkswagen's latest family design language, the layout of the center console is more concise, and the design style is basically the same as that of the new generation of Tiguan. The car is equipped with a 10.25inch full liquid crystal meter and a 12.9inch central control screen, and users can pay for a 15-inch central control screen and HUD head-up display system.

In terms of power, according to foreign media reports, the new car will provide gasoline, diesel and plug-in hybrid systems. Among them, the plug-in hybrid system (eHYBrid) will provide integrated output from 150kW to 200kW, electric mileage up to 120km, and support DC fast charging.

Passat (Passat) is one of the most representative medium-sized cars owned by Volkswagen, which was first born in 1973 and entered the American market in the following year. Up to now, it has produced and sold more than 3000 million cars. According to Automotive Industry concern, whether it is the European Passat hatchback or the American Passat (which has stopped production), the main reason Volkswagen chose to "abandon" the model is due to poor sales. But unlike the American market, the European market is not that there is no market for cars, but because consumers in central and eastern Europe prefer Skoda's Superb hatchback version, so Volkswagen chose to stop production of the Passat hatchback version as the same group of medium-sized cars in order to make way for the speedster model. At the same time, although the Passat is still one of the most popular models in the European market segment in the past year, most of its orders come from the Passat travel version, and the European Passat travel model is significantly better than the Passat hatchback sedan. Volkswagen also launched the Arteon series models on the same platform as the Passat in 2020, so Volkswagen decided to stop production of the Passat sedan based on market considerations.

However, Volkswagen has also made it clear before that the Passat competitor is not Skoda Superb or Arteon series models, but the highly competitive SUV market. In the future, the European market will still provide Skoda Speed School and Arteon cars, while the pure electric model ID.7 will be launched. After more new models enter the bureau, the Volkswagen European market sedan will be composed of Volkswagen Arteon, Volkswagen Arteon Shooting Brake, New Acer and New Speed School. As for new energy models, Volkswagen ID.7 will also provide hatchback version and travel version.

As a classic medium-sized car, Passat won the B-class sales in 2016 and 2019, while Maiteng won the B-class sales in 2017 and 2018, with annual sales of more than 200000 vehicles, respectively. However, with the rise of independent brands, Passat and Maiteng's market position has also been shaken to a certain extent. The latest figures show that from January to July 2023, the cumulative sales of Passat and Maiteng were 95726 and 89710 respectively.

Considering the positioning of the new car, the new Volkswagen Passat will continue to compete with Toyota Camry, Nissan Teana and Honda Accord after its launch.

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