Volkswagen Passat
The Volkswagen Passat is a nameplate of large family cars manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973 and also marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar and Carat — in saloon, estate, and hatchback body styles.
A "four-door coupé" variant of the Passat with a lower roof was released in the North American market in 2008 as the Passat CC, which was then renamed to Volkswagen CC. The CC was succeeded by the Arteon in 2017.
In January 2011, Volkswagen introduced a separate Passat model line, internally designated "Volkswagen New Midsize Sedan" or NMS, that was manufactured in the US at the Chattanooga assembly plant and in China at Nanjing by SAIC-Volkswagen. Developed to increase Volkswagen sales in North America, the Passat NMS is larger and costs less to produce, and is sold in the North America, South Korea, China, and Middle East. The separate B8 Passat model entered production, based on the MQB platform.
In 2019, the Passat NMS program was split into two as the North American one continued being produced on an older platform while the Chinese Passat moved on to the MQB platform, which resulted in Volkswagen marketing three models under the Passat nameplate globally at that time. The North American Passat was discontinued after the 2022 model year.
Volkswagen ended the production of the saloon Passat for the European market in 2022. The B9 Passat, released in 2023, is only available in an estate body style. The Passat continues to be available as a saloon in China.
The "Passat" is one of several Volkswagen models named after a wind: "Passat" is the usual German word for "Trade winds".
B1 (''Type'' 32; 1973)
The first generation Passat launched in 1973 in two- and four-door sedan and three- and five-door versions. Externally all four shared styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The first generation Passat was a fastback variant of the mechanically identical Audi 80 sedan, introduced a year earlier. A five-door station wagon was introduced in 1974, which in North American markets was sold as an Audi Fox. In Europe, the Passat was equipped with two rectangular, two round 7-inch, or four round 5.5-inch headlights depending on specification. The Passat was one of the most modern European family cars at the time, and was intended as a replacement for the ageing Volkswagen Type 3 and Type 4. The only other European cars of its size to feature front-wheel drive and a hatchback were the Renault 16 and Austin Maxi.The Passat originally featured the four-cylinder OHC 1.3-litre and 1.5-litre petrol engines also used in the Audi 80—longitudinally mounted with front-wheel drive, in Audi tradition, with either a four-speed manual transmission or three-speed automatic. It had a MacPherson strut front suspension with a solid axle/coil spring setup at the rear.
The SOHC 1.5-litre was enlarged to 1.6-litre in August 1975 with unchanged power ratings and slightly higher torque ratings. In July 1978, the Passat Diesel became available, equipped with the VW Golf's 1.5-litre diesel, followed in February 1979 by the Passat GLI with a fuel-injected version of the 1.6-litre engine.
The range received a facelift in 1977 with revised interior and revised exterior with repositioned indicators and depending on model, either four round or two rectangular headlights.
In North America, the car was marketed as the Volkswagen Dasher. The three-door hatchback, four-door sedan, and a station wagon model launched in North America for and during the 1974 model year. Sole available engine was a carburetted 1.5-litre inline-four developing , supplanted from model year 1976 by a Bosch fuel-injected 1.6-litre four. North American cars were equipped with single DOT standard headlights.
In 1978, the Dasher received a facelift along the lines of the European Passat, with quad sealed beam headlights and big polyurethane covered bumpers. The trim was also upgraded and the ride softened. 1979 saw the introduction of the 1.5-litre diesel engine, which produced just in the car. 0–100 km/h time for the Diesel was 19.4 seconds, 6.2 seconds slower than the petrol engine. All petrol engines were dropped for North America in 1981, in preparation for the next generation.
In Brazil, the Passat B1 was produced from June 1974 until 1988. Since the Audi 80 was not marketed in Brazil, the Passat received the Audi's different front-end treatment after a facelift for 1979. Originally with a 1.5-litre engine, during its long life cycle many improvements from the B2 platform were later introduced, like its 1.6 and 1.8-litre engines, a Brazil-specific face-lift in 1985, and a five-speed gearbox. A sports version, named Passat TS 1.6 and later Passat GTS 1.8 Pointer was also introduced.
B2 (''Type'' 32B; 1981)
The second generation Passat launched in November 1980. The platform, named B2, was once again based on the corresponding version of the Audi 80, which had been launched in 1978. The B2 Passat was slightly longer.In addition to the Passat hatchbacks and Variants, there was also a conventional three-box saloon, which until the 1985 facelift was sold as the Volkswagen Santana in Europe. In the United States, the Passat/Santana was sold as the Volkswagen Quantum, available in three-door hatchback, four-door sedan, and a wagon model, but the five-door hatchback was never sold there and the three-door hatchback was dropped after less than two years. The four-wheel drive Syncro wagon version was introduced in October 1984, initially only with the more powerful five-cylinder engine.
The Passat/Santana was also produced and commercialized in China, Mexico, South America and South Africa, too. In Mexico, it was marketed from 1984 to 1988 as VW Corsar and Corsar Variant. In Argentina, from 1987 to 1991 as the VW Carat. In Brazil, the wagon model was badged VW Quantum. The Passat saloon and estate were produced in South Africa for the local market until 1987.
Like the previous generation, the B2 Passat was mainly sold with four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines. Unlike its predecessor, the top-of the line versions received five-cylinder Audi or VW engines of 1.9–2.2 litres. In addition to four- and five-speed manuals and three-speed automatic gearboxes, the Passat/Santana was also available with the 4+E transmission. This, also called the "Formel E" had a particularly long top gear, which combined with a freewheeling mechanism, provided better gas mileage. An automatic stop/start was also available in some markets. The four-wheel-drive system used in the Passat Variant Syncro shared the mechanics of the Audi 80 and not the Volkswagen Golf Syncro. The Syncro's bottom plate was almost entirely different, requiring a transmission tunnel, a relocated gas tank and no spare tire well. Only the more popular estate was reengineered.
In 1985, the range received a slight facelift, consisting of new, larger bumpers, interior retouches, a new front grille and new taillights on the hatchback versions. The three-door hatchback was discontinued, while the Santana nameplate was dropped in Europe. The saloon's front end was now the same as the hatchback and estate.
On 31 March 1988, production ended with 3,345,248 built in Germany. World production totaled approximately 4.5 million units.
B3 and B4 (''Typ'' 35i; 1988)
The third generation Passat was introduced in March 1988 in Europe, 1990 in North America, and 1995 in South America. The lack of a grille made the car's front end styling reminiscent of older, rear-engined Volkswagens, such as the 411, and also doubled as a modern styling trend. The styling was developed from the 1981 aerodynamic Auto 2000 concept car.At the time, it was the first transverse engine layout Passat to be built on a Volkswagen-designed platform, rather than sharing one with an Audi saloon. The car, although designated B3 in Volkswagen's platform nomenclature, was based largely on the A platform as used for the smaller Golf model, but was stretched in all directions, and therefore had no connection with the B3 series Audi 80, launched two years earlier. Many components are shared directly between these vehicles. This generation of Passat was sold as a four-door saloon or a five-door estate, with the Passat not being sold as a hatchback from this point onwards. It was marketed under the Passat name in all markets; in North America, this was a first.
The fuel-injected petrol engines gave better performance and refinement than the carburettor units previously used. They were mounted transversely, and the floorpan was engineered to accept Volkswagen's 'Syncro' four-wheel drive system. Engine options were the 2.0-litre 16-valve engine in the GL model, 1.8-litre engine in the CL model, The 1.8 8v 112 bhp PB engine from the Golf GTi was also used in the Passat GT model. Volkswagen's new 2.8-litre VR6 engine in the GLX/GLS model, and the G60 engine. The VR6 engine gave the top-of-the-range Passat a top speed of. The 1.9-litre and the 1.6-litre diesel engine were also available as options.
1993 facelift (Passat B4)
The B3 Passat was heavily facelifted in 1993, and despite being designated B4, it was not an all-new model. The facelift revised external body panels except for the roof and glasshouse, with most obvious exterior change seeing the reintroduction of a grille to match the style of the other same-generation Volkswagen models of the era, such as the Mk3 Golf and Jetta. The interior was mildly updated and included safety equipment, such as dual front airbags and seat belt pretensioners, although the basic dashboard design remained unchanged. The grille was introduced to give the front end a more aggressive appearance, as the previous model looked too 'passive'.The car was available with a Turbocharged Direct Injection diesel engine – an inline four-cylinder 1.9-litre turbodiesel, generating at 3,750 rpm and of torque at 1,900 rpm. It carried a US EPA fuel efficiency rating for the sedan of highway. Combined with a reserve option fuel tank, the B4 TDI wagon had an 1800+ km range on a single tank of fuel. The B4 TDI wagon saw less than 1,000 sales in the US during its 1996 to 1997 lifespan.