Volkswagen of America Says Passat And Jetta Uber Alles
Published: August 5th, 2012
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Scirocco? Polo? Up!? Nope. An interview with VW of America’s VP of Marketing and Strategy reveals that you’ll have to keep waiting for any of those products.
Motor Trend’s interview with Rainer Michel ticks nearly every box on the “forbidden euro fruit” list of VW products. But Volkswagen keeps coming back to two products; the Passat and Jetta, the vulgarized, Americanized sedans that are doing quite well. The two three-box four-doors are driving VW’s growth Stateside, and the company looks committed to supporting them, before bringing over the kinds of products that endeared the company to enthusiasts, but provided little traction in the marketplace.
More by Derek Kreindler
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Can't wait to see how the COO changes once these boat-anchors are off warranty....
I test drove a Passat tdi manual. Three things impressed me: 1. The back seat room is amazing. 2. There is ample trunk space even though leg room in front and back is ample. 3. It was easy to shift through the gears. My commute is mostly short and I do not take too many long trips, though. I think having a diesel for short trips does not take full advantage of its great highway mileage capability, so I'm looking at a Volt instead. Sadly, I can't have both which would take care of everything!
Just did a bunch of test drives with my parents the past few days. They're both in their early 70s, and of increasing importance is ease of entry and exit. Being of Germanic descent we wished to give the Passat a try, although they've been driving Civics for decades. We're all tall folk (I'm 6'4" and my dad's 6'2"), and even considering the sheer size of the Passat both my father and I bumped our heads even with added neck craning on entry to the front seats. Once in the front seats, room is good. The back seat is a breeze to get into and out of, and there's acres of legroom, but my head was grazing the ceiling. Sigh. The good 'ole Honda Accord has much more headroom in the back, and it's also much easier to enter and exit the front seats for the aging crowd. I don't know who redesigned the Camry recently but the glove box door comes shockingly close to the shins. Being a Subaru fan, I also had them try the Legacy. The CVT was a deal-breaker, and my dad came up with the "slipping clutch" analogy all on his own. I tried to explain the mechanics of it, but he was not impressed. "A snowmobile transmission?!" Back at the VW dealer, the young salesman was throwing around a suggested mileage (not written down of course, that may be legally binding...) "Mid-30s for the 5-cylinder (Power of a 6, fuel economy of a 4!!!)" like popcorn even though the Monroney clearly showed a combined average of 25. I hate liars. Also, the bugger overused the word "Leatherette" like it was going out of style until I made him admit it was actually just grained and perforated vinyl. "Leatherette" the word should be outlawed as deceptive marketing. He also claimed they don't work on commission. Anyone know if that is true? And if so, how are they paid? One last note, there was a big stink a while back regarding the Passat's trunk goose neck hinge plastic covers. I'm reporting one Mit plastic guard on the left (driver's side) hinge which hides and protects a lighting wire, but the right goose neck is naked as a jaybird. Ohne plastic.
While I would love to see a 1.2 Liter VW Polo TDI hybrid or Passat/Jetta Hybrid, utilizing the power from the electric motors to increase acceleration that would otherwise be crappy with a 1.2L diesel, and getting great fuel economy because of the small TDI, I don't think they'll do it. Too much cost for emissions controls of the diesel + the hybrid powertrain. More than likely we won't be seeing any good increases in MPG with the brand until HCCI gas engines come out..