Volkswagen Passat turns 40 years Old

Volkswagen is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Passat by bring back all the earlier avatars of its models. Over 20 million Passats have been sold by the German automakers across the globe till now. The first Passat was presented in May of 1973 and was delivered in July same year. The first Passat was a hatchback, but soon after the company launched the vehicle in estate body style as well. The seventh generation of the vehicle has become one of the three cars from the Volkswagen family to enter the top 10 list of the best selling cars in the world. VW Passat was designed by Giorgio Giugiaro to attract the middle-class families. The vehicle was launched in 1973, and soon after it became one of the bestselling German cars with over 2.5 million units sold by the time the model went out of production in 1980.

The first generation Passat's successor was the segment first to feature newer technologies like turbocharged diesel engine, all wheel drive system and a five cylinder petrol engine. Till 2012, the second generation Passat (known as VW Santana!) was developed in China. The second generation was the star of the 80s, and was not only produced in Emden, but also in Belgium, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Japan. Above all, the car established the success of the Volkswagen brand in China: The Santana B2 was produced there until 2012, a modified long version - Vista - continued to run off the line. With nearly 5.5 million units of the second Passat and all of its variants, it was the most produced model of the entire Passat family.

The Passat models in the third (1987 to 1993) and fourth generation (1993 to 1997) were made exclusively with rear step or combination, a hatchback version was no more for the Passat family. The fifth generation (1996 to 2005) set higher standards. With fully galvanized body, advanced TDI technology, powerful four-, five-, six-and eight-cylinder engines and a level of quality were offered with the car. For the first time a dual clutch transmission was offered with the Passat and added a powerful diesel and petrol engines and fuel-efficient BlueMotion versions. 

Read More on : Volkswagen Passat detailed review