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VW scoop special: new Passat (2012)
By
Ben Whitworth and Georg Kacher (artist's impression by Larson)
Spy shots
16 December 2008 16:10
The Passat is in the middle of a mighty shake-up – new VW boss Martin Winterkorn has hauled its facelift forwards from 2010 to 2009, killed off the proposed Shooting Brake and Audi A6-based Crosser, and ordered the current car’s B7/VW47X replacement to be brought forward from 2014 to 2012. All change for Passat number seven, then…
Tell me about the VW Passat's facelift first
Nothing radical – a lot less chrome, new lamps and bumpers front and rear, a lot more goodies including rear-view camera and automatic parking for those to lazy to turn their necks.
Next year's Passat diesel line-up will be bolstered by a beefier 204bhp 2.0 TDI, and there’s talk of a jacked-up estate with optional 4Motion, dubbed Hunter, arriving in 2009 – and that’s about it. Why change so little? Because all the time and money is being spent on the B7/VW47X – that's the 2012 Passat replacement to you and me.
Tell me more about the 2012 Passat…
The next Passat will retain its current transverse engine layout but will sit on the much vaunted new ultra-flexible MQB architecture – and with far-reaching consequences. The Passat will never be allowed to pitch itself more upmarket than its DNA permits, which means no pseudo-executive W8 nonsense. The Passat family will grow to include Passat saloon and estate, the new Passat CC and will – eventually – spawn the replacement Touareg and Tiguan.
>> Click 'Next' for more on the 2012 Passat
