Volkswagen wasn’t kidding around when it said the new Passat would debut in late August as a new teaser announces the world premiere is scheduled for the very last day of the month. Big changes are afoot for the midsize car since VW is dropping the sedan, preferring instead to focus solely on the wagon known as Variant in the Wolfsburg dialect. It won’t be built at home in Germany anymore as production is moving to Bratislava, Slovakia.
The adjacent teaser shows a good chunk of the headlights, which will come in an optional matrix LED configuration able to illuminate the road ahead by 1,640 feet (500 meters). Oddly enough, the Passat is not getting the Touareg facelift’s more sophisticated HD matrix tech the next-gen Tiguan will also have at an additional cost.
VW has been surprisingly generous with the preview images in the lead-up to the 2024 Passat’s debut. Although fully camouflaged, the prototype we saw earlier this year had strong hints of ID design, giving the impression of an ID.7 with combustion engines. Speaking of which, the fully electric model was caught a few days ago as a wagon without any disguise whatsoever.
The Passat’s cabin will be fully revamped by doing away with most of the traditional switchgear installed on the outgoing model. The Passat is VW’s next model in line to get the controversial touch sliders below the infotainment’s touchscreen, which will measure 12.9 inches as standard and 15 inches for the more expensive setup. A fully digital 10.25-inch driver’s display is also planned, as is a new head-up display.
Mechanically twinned with the 2024 Skoda Superb teased earlier today, the new Passat will be larger than its predecessor to offer greater legroom and a bigger cargo area. Underneath the hood, there are going to be mild-hybrid gasoline and diesel engines complemented by plug-in hybrid powertrains with support for DC charging and up to 75 miles of electric range.
The market launch for the next-gen Passat is scheduled for the first quarter of 2024 when the equivalent Skoda is also programmed to hit the streets.
