Spotlight on Estate
Despite the Saloon market in the UK being twice the size of the Estate, Volkswagen sell two Estates for every Saloon, which is why they have focused on maintaining excellent trim levels throughout both model specifications.
Premium trims
Volkswagen has decided to remove the S trim in order to ensure that every new Passat has a premium interior and exterior throughout its specification range.
GTE
The GTE is an exciting specification in the new Passat range, and brings with it a £1,635 price reduction compared to the outgoing GTE and a 30 per cent increase in battery size.
Simplification
With the new Passat, Volkswagen has decided to reduce the trim options down from eight to six, as well as reducing the options from 82 to around 50 to simplify the configurator and ordering process for customers.
Safety and convenience technology as standard
Volkswagen has added safety technology as standard to ensure drivers, passengers and pedestrians are as safe as possible. This includes 'Travel Assist', which is an amalgamation and evolution of Lane Assist and Adaptive Cruise Control. The two features work together, making a smoother driving experience at higher speeds.
Travel Assist works on country roads, single carriageways, as well as highways. Its semi-autonomous autopilot system can actively steer the Passat at speeds of up to 130mph – a big advance on the 25mph limit of the Traffic Jam Assist system on the current car. Lane Assist recognises kerbs and grass as well as road markings.
The configurator is now live for the New Passat Estate and orders are expected to be open from 30 July.