New-Gen Volkswagen Passat Imported To India For Testing

Volkswagen Passat Spied

The Volkswagen Passat was one of the first models with which the Wolfsburg-based carmaker entered the Indian sub-continent. While the initial run of the car was pretty much satisfactory, Volkswagen soon started losing on sales with the decline in popularity of full-sized sedans and dropped the Passat from its Indian line-up a few years back. Now, seeing the growing incline towards full-size sedans, the carmaker is prompted to bring the Passat marque back to India. And the fact that the new-gen model has arrived in India for testing, indicates that the carmaker plans to do so sooner than we think.

As mentioned earlier, under the hood, the car will come with the company's tried and tested 1,968cc, four-cylinder, TDI diesel engine that has been tuned to offer better performance and fuel efficiency. It will likely be mated to an automatic transmission, probably a 6-speed DSG unit as standard. We believe there won't be a petrol version as such, as there is already the petrol-electric plug-in hybrid - Passat GTE on the cards, which is powered by 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine mated to an electric motor, offering a combined output of 215bhp.

New-Gen Volkswagen Passat

In terms of looks, the new Passat looks bolder and much more stylish compared to the older model we had in India. The car is built on Volkswagen's MQB platform and has been styled as per the carmaker's latest design language. The front end comes with an angular design with a wide three-slat chrome grille flanked by pentagonal-shaped LED headlamps with LED daytime running lights. The sporty front bumper houses a wide central air dam, LED fog lamps and air intakes. The car also features some bold character lines that run across the bonnet and side profile of the car that adds to the imposing stance of the new-gen Passat. The rear profile of the car has also been redesigned as it now comes with new pentagonal LED tail lamps, beefy bumper and wide chrome tipped exhaust.

Spy Images Source: Autocolumn