In 2023, the Volkswagen Passat will get a facelift as a ninth generation, only available as a station wagon. In the catalog since 1973, the sedan will fall by the wayside, sacrificed on the altar of electric, replaced by the ID.7.
In the Volkswagen range, the Passat family sedan is a real institution. Born in 1973, a year before the Golf, it is now in its eighth generation. Arrived in the catalog in 2014 and then restyled in 2019, this opus will bear the brunt of the continued decline in this segment.
However, the future of the Volkswagen Passat will not be all rosy. She will have to deal with her electric alter-ego, the Volkswagen ID.7, unveiled in the fall of 2022. The latter will delight her with her sedan silhouette. and will only leave the Volkswagen Passat Mk9, internal code B9, that of the station wagon, a bodywork that still appeals in Europe. As proof, currently 90% of Passat sales are provided by this silhouette. In order to refine the recipe, she will see things on a large scale with a more imposing format, a guarantee of better habitability and a trunk volume which will become the new benchmark in the segment.
“Volkswagen entrusted the reins of the project to Skoda so that the Passat SW and Superb Combi have the same architecture.“
The Volkswagen Passat B9 will not be assembled like the “B8” in the German factory in Emden, Lower Saxony, but in Bratislava, Slovakia, alongside its cousin Skoda. The idea of pooling technical platforms is not new in itself since, across the Atlantic, the current Passat sedan produced in the Chattanooga plant in the State of Tennessee is already none other than a Skoda Superb rebuilt.
TO READ. Volkswagen Passat. The sedan is now only available from stock
An “electrified” style for the future Passat
The light strip at the rear of the 2023 Volkswagen Passat SW harmonizes the manufacturer’s thermal and electric ranges. Note that the Passat SW will grow in length by about ten centimeters.
The first camouflaged Volkswagen Passat “9” mules caught the eye of spy photographers and, unsurprisingly, this is the station wagon silhouette. Rolling prototypes that allowed illustrator Nikita Chuicko to create these two images with a very realistic rendering.
The style of the future Passat retains a certain classicism at the level of the profile which has been stretched by a good ten centimeters, going from 4.77 m for the current generation to around 4.87 m for the new one. The look is still sober, statutory and now contrasts with smoother ends treated with a lot of modernity. The face of the Passat 2023 will be in harmony with that of the electric models in the range such as the Volkswagen ID.4 SUV. A very thin grille incorporating a light strip over its entire width is underlined by a large air intake in the center of the shield. In order to visually widen the vehicle, two vertical scoops frame the whole. At the rear, the tailgate flap is also adorned with a light strip like those of the VW T-Cross and ID.5. Just below, the very geometric modeling applied to the corners of the shield brings robustness to the whole, and already announces the adventurer variant, Volkswagen Passat Alltrack which, with its increased ground clearance and all-wheel drive, is very popular with mountaineers.
The Passat SW launched in 2023
The latter also appeals to refractory SUVs. For the moment, it is still a little early to know with great precision the range of engines. Nevertheless, it is very likely that the future Passat SW will remain faithful to gasoline and diesel proposals – TDIs are essential for large rollers and business fleets – with, in both cases, a light hybridization. And, just like the current Passat, a plug-in hybrid variant will also be there. What perfectly complete the wattage offer of the Volkswagen ID.7. who will have priority.
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