Wait, Remind Me Again?

"Amoore100" (amoore100) 05/17/2016 at 02:28 • Filed to: Good Night, Volkswagen, Passat

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Why do we get a watered-down American Passat instead of the Euro Passat? If they wanted to build the Passat in the US, couldn’t they just build the Euro model here? They seem pretty similar, and it seems like Volkswagen is doing the opposite of what Ford did by consolidating their Mondeo and Fusion. So, what’s going on? I think I knew at one point, but memory has failed me once again. I do think the Euro Passat looks better, but that’s just nitpicking.

American

Euro

FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Amoore100 05/17/2016 at 02:45

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That’s because VW thinks that you filthy, dumb Americans aren’t worthy of the great, over-complicated and engineered cars that we get. Think Polo, Passat, Amarok, Scirocco, T6, LT, Golf Sportsvan/GTD, Up, Caddy and Sharan. But idk if these would sell because they’re relatively expensive and I don’t think that VW’s got the right reputation in North America to sell those cars competitively. Trade barriers also don’t help the matter. I still don’t get why it takes ages for them to finally release the Tiguan and the new 7 seat SUV. The Tiguan is a great car.

Svend > Amoore100 05/17/2016 at 02:54

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I like my VW Passat with it’s Skoda badge over those two VW Passats.

Sorry my bad. I look at the VW Passat and Audi A6 and think why pay more for an uglier car with less room (granted the U.S. Doesn’t have the option but).

Sorry again, I’m biased.

FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Svend 05/17/2016 at 03:04

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I did mistake the Superb for an A6 once.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Amoore100 05/17/2016 at 03:08

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The euro one definitely looks better. I can tell it isn’t a jetta.

El Rivinado > Amoore100 05/17/2016 at 03:16

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German arrogance and mr Gubmint man. That's the source of all your woes.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Amoore100 05/17/2016 at 03:50

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Probably has something to do with cost of production. Since the American Passat starts at $22400(€19772,27), whereas the European Passat starts at€26400 which is $29913, so that’s quite the difference. I expect they wouldn’t be able to sell a Passat at the European price in America, and thus chose this as a compromise.

Cé hé sin > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 05/17/2016 at 04:55

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Those differences are down to tax though aren’t they? The Americans show pre tax prices whereas prices here are what you actually pay.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Cé hé sin 05/17/2016 at 04:58

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Didn’t think of that. But then still I guess the production of the Euro Passat would be more expensive over there, since a lot of the parts are made in Germany, so I expect the price would still be higher in America as a result of that.

duurtlang > Amoore100 05/17/2016 at 06:41

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Simple really. The normal Passat has always been considered too small and expensive for the US market. VW wanted a larger market share in the US, so the US got a special larger and cheaper ‘Passat’ a number of years ago. Because that’s what VW (and many others) believe Americans want: cars as large as possible for as little money as possible.

duurtlang > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 05/17/2016 at 06:47

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The pre-tax base version Passat with 1.4 TSI 125 hp starts at €22k in the Netherlands. That’s before VAT and emission taxes.

ahenderson086 > Svend 05/17/2016 at 07:04

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A6 is a completely different platform. The engine is even the other way round

Amoore100 > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem 05/18/2016 at 01:42

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That’s actually pretty true. The price gap is likely a concern since VW doesn’t want to infringe on Audi here but in Europe, Skoda is their value leader so VW’s have to be a bit more expensive and nicer to justify their prices. I do think that had their reputation not been tarnished, the Touran would have had a chance here in diesel form as a sort of eco-CMax alternative.

Amoore100 > duurtlang 05/18/2016 at 01:43

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True, the land barge philosophy. Makes me wonder why they didn’t just make like a LWB Passat for America like they did China, but I guess costs would have been higher, never mind the huge price of investing in R&D for an altogether different model.

Amoore100 > El Rivinado 05/18/2016 at 01:45

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Also see: first generation iDrive

Amoore100 > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 05/18/2016 at 01:45

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Looks more A6 or VW CC for sure, definitely more upmarket than the Accord-on-botox Passat that we get.

Amoore100 > ahenderson086 05/18/2016 at 01:49

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Doesn’t really make a difference 90% of the time you’re driving unless you’re worried about being judged by others from brand snobbery.

FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Amoore100 05/18/2016 at 03:16

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At least you get the Golf which isn’t just downgraded and really good. But that’s not nearly enough. They should bring on the new SUVs and replace the Passat and Jetta asap. I’m not too sure if other Euro VWs would be hot sellers though except for the Polo and Amarok.