With the electric trend, the combustion models are dying out at VW. There will probably not be a Golf 9, but the Passat can still do a lap – with a sister model from Skoda. FOCUS Online shows what we can expect from the last Passat.
Half a century of automotive history is slowly coming to an end at Volkswagen. The VW Golf introduced in 1974 will probably not get a successor. Shortly before the Golf 1, the Passat came onto the market in 1973. He should get a new edition for the last time 50 years later. The ninth generation Passat (B9) is only coming onto the market in the version in which it has always been most successful: as a station wagon called Variant.
The B9 is to be built in Bratislava, Slovakia, together with its sister model, the new Skoda Superb, which is also planned. The previous Passat main plant in Emden will produce the last Passat of the current generation by 2024 at the latest. Then only electric cars will roll off the assembly line there, like the VW ID4 SUV at the moment. At least for the time being, the jobs in the plant should be secured.
Meanwhile, no big surprises can be expected from the new Passat B9. An Erlkönig drove in front of the lens of the “Motor 1” portal. “ Despite all the camouflage, other bumpers stand out. They are reminiscent of the Golf GTE at the front. Large side air intakes are striking here, while the fog lights are only glued on. The headlights with narrow LED turn signals and probably a wide LED daytime running light also arouse golf feelings,” according to the portal.
The Erlkönig also looks a little longer than the current Passat. That could mean that the car will be as big as its 4.86 meter sister model Skoda Superb. The load space will be correspondingly lush with around 500 to 1800 liters (with the rear seats folded down).
Since this is the last Passat and, at least in Europe, one of the last new Volkswagens with a combustion engine, the Wolfsburg-based company will not invest too much money in the car. For example, he gets the heavily revised infotainment generation of the VW Golf and a few new assistance systems.
Under the hood, compared to the current Passat, there will probably only be slightly modified petrol and diesel drives with 150 to 220 hp. The super-tight Euro 7 emissions standard will not come into effect for new cars until 2025, around a year after the expected launch of the Passat B9.
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By 2024, VW wants to have sold so many electric cars that the Passat could then become more of a niche model. Especially since the prices are likely to rise sharply compared to the current model, analogous to the VW Golf. There is speculation in the industry about a starting price of at least 35,000 euros. The Passat Variant currently starts at 33,650 euros.
The niche would then be the upscale family carriage for buyers for whom an electric car makes no sense, as well as the car for classic frequent drivers and company car users with a lot of space who do not spend many hours at charging stations on the motorway on every long journey want.
It remains to be seen whether the new Passat will appear again as a partially electric plug-in hybrid variant. On the one hand, this technology is very expensive, on the other hand, it will no longer be subsidized by the state until the new car is launched and is therefore less attractive. What also speaks against a hybrid Passat: In 2023, parallel to the last Passat, the purely electric VW ID7 is to roll off the assembly line for the first time, which competes directly with the Passat as a large-capacity station wagon. A hard cut between the two worlds therefore seems more logical: the classic and economical petrol and diesel engines for the Passat and the electric drive for the new ID model.
All electric car and plug-in hybrid models at a glance
