Built at Volkswagen’s newly inaugurated Chattanooga plant in the state of Tennessee, the Passat is available with three engine options and eight equipment levels. The starting price corresponds to the 2.5L model, which features a 170HP 2.5-liter petrol engine mated to a manual gearbox. The entry-level Passat comes equipped with automatic dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth connectivity, steering wheel audio controls and VW's no-charge three-year/36,000 mile Carefree Maintenance Program as standard.
Having garnered close to 40 million views on Youtube on VW USA’s channel alone, the German company decided to bring the TV spot to Europe, and specifically to the UK to promote the seventh generation of the Passat that went on sale in the country in January. Not surprisingly, the only thing the advertising agency changed in the ad was the car. The campaign aired on UK television today and will run for six weeks.
The tongue-in-cheek video clip duplicates most of the scenes seen in VW’s original advertisement replacing Little Darth Vader with Little Thor and the Passat with a MG Rover ZT Estate (based on the BMW Group-era Rover 75) – though the interior of the car is from an Audi model. Take a look at both Marvel’s and VW’s original adverts after the jump and tell us what you think in the comments section below.
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However, despite the record viewing number,
Chevy's lovely ladies couldn't beat Volkswagen's little Darth Vader in the Passat ad for the most favorite commercial of the game with a Nieslen likability index of 186 (the average score for the Super Bowl ads is 100, meaning VW's Passat ad was almost twice as liked as the average commercial).
The first advert is about the upcoming Beetle and shows a real bug with white racing stripes acting like a car on the forest ground, while the other commercial is for the U.S.-market spec 2012 Passat and is more humorous concentrating on a child dressed up as Darth Vader. Watch them both right after the break.
While the design may not be engaging, the car's lower sticker prices will certainly attract more buyers as the new Passat will start from around $20,000 or some $7,000 to $8,000 less than the 2011MY it replaces.
However, keep in mind that while the base 2011 Passat was offered with a modern 200HP 2.0 TFSI, the entry-level 2012MY Passat will come with VW's old 2.5-liter five-cylinder unit rated at 170HP.
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The four-door saloon model will be launched in the States in mid-August with an entry-level price in the US$20,000 range, according to the company. Final prices will be announced in March. "There is hardly any other saloon of this size (exactly 191.7 inches or 4,868 mm long) that offers such high technology and quality at a comparable price," said Volkswagen in a statement.
Chances are you've already seen a set of pictures, supposedly depicting the U.S. market version of the 2012 Volkswagen New Midsized Sedan (NMS), floating around on the web-o-sphere this week. As always, we looked around and tried to find the original or one of the original sources of the photos. Turns out that these pictures originated from a Chinese car site called Autohome. If we are to believe the report, what you see here is the China-market version of the NMS. Even so, we would like to note that we're not entirely convinced of their authenticity as the photographs could very well be fabricated.
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Starting with VW's proposal in the compact coupe segment, all entry-level and GT trim models with the 2.0-litre 140HP diesel engine now feature BlueMotion Technology modifications, which include Stop/Start and battery regeneration systems, thus helping to create the cleanest and most fuel efficient Scirocco to date.
The three-day trip began in Maidstone, England, where the Passat's tank was drained and filled with 77.25 liters (20.41 US gallons) of diesel. The journey finally ended close to Calais after 1,526.63 miles (2,456.87 km), the equivalent of driving halfway from New York to Los Angeles.
Now, we all know you can't and you shouldn't buy a car based upon looks or preliminary specs alone. It's the whole package that counts. However, in this case, we simply want to find out which one of these new family sedans captured your attention for the right reasons.
Place your vote in the poll after the jump and be sure to have your say in the comments section.
