Sedan Trends – Passat is Passe’ – VW Kills US Production

Riding off into runaway global warming.

Volkswagen of America announced today that it will end assembly of the Passat sedan in Chattanooga with model year 2022, part of the plant’s conversion to build future electric vehicles. In a well-known marketing practice that occasionally works for a dying species, a short-run Limited Edition joins the lineup.

During the second quarter, light-trucks, crossovers and sport utility vehicles (SUVs), were 76.9% of all new vehicles sold in the US market. The segment is expected to continue to move towards an 80% market share. Pickups accounted for 17.6% of sales for the first half of 2021, down from 20.0% compared to the first half of 2020; crossovers represented 45.9% of sales, up from 41.8% one year ago.

The first versions of the Passat family sedans and wagons – remember them?- from Volkswagen for U.S. customers were launched in 1974 under the Dasher name. More than 222,000 were sold before the car was replaced by the second-generation Passat, this time marketed as the Quantum. The Passat name appeared for the first time in the U.S. market in 1990. The first six generations were exported from Europe.

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In 2011, Volkswagen started assembling the Passat for the North American market in Chattanooga. Claimed to be designed for North America, the 2012 Passat was bigger than the car it replaced, with more rear-seat and trunk space, with German engineering and styling at a competitive price. The U.S.-assembled Passat was exported to Canada, South Korea and Middle Eastern markets since.

“With the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport in high demand, and the North American production launch of the all-electric ID.4 SUV next year, our future in Chattanooga looks brighter than ever,” said Scott Keogh, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America.

The 2022 Passat Limited Edition includes “unique exterior and interior design details created to celebrate the model’s history and recognize the contributions of the employees who built Passat. A run of 1,973 Limited Edition models is “expected to be produced to recognize the year the first Passat was launched in Germany.” The wiggle room here allows VW to cancel the model if there aren’t enough orders.

However since this is the usual paint and badges treatment, Dealers will likely order some for the dwindling US market for passenger cars where the Japanese are well entrenched – Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota. Pricing for the 2022 Passat Limited Edition starts at $30,295 MSRP with a destination cost of $995. The Aurora Red Metallic exterior color option is an additional $395.