All new 2012 VW Mid Sized Sedan

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Looking very much like a big Jetta.

To be fair, this looks to be some kind of a base model, with pretty small wheels. And grey, which doesn’t help.
I know the current Jetta looks much better in person . At least to me.

So let’s hope it will be the case with their all new sedan.

This car will not be sold in Europe, where they still have the “revised for 2011” Passat.
But it will replace the Passat in the US.

Conversation 35 comments

  1. Strange strategy…boring design coupled with mediocre reliability….why would I buy this over a Sonata or Optima??? I'll give it credit for being better looking than the Accord and Camry but those visits to the dealer for repairs wouldn't compensate for the better design.

  2. "Welcome to 1998" — not a good thing. They can't afford to be bland AND unreliable. You can only add blandness to the mix once you have been selling to the same zombies for over a decade like H and T.

  3. So it's just a bigger/longer Jetta – How Novel.

    I appreciate a 'clean' design effort as much as anyone, but this is really taking thing too far, as it's so bland, boring, and anonymous that it really looks like some styling exercise leftover from the early 1990s.

    Just Dreadful.

  4. Who issued the memo that US car buyers like bland design? Seems like everything is getting watered down for us.

  5. Is VW serious? A design like this to take on rivals like the 2010 Taurus, Chrysler 300, Hyundai Azera, Nissan Maxima, LaCross, and the Kia Cadenza. Is VW really really serious? A design like this? A design that looks like a longer verison of the 2002 Lagacy? A design from the 90's Avalon? Is this the best VW could have done? A Chinese car looks more updated than this? This design will age after 3 hours.

  6. I'm sorry I got to make another comment Vince. Is VW really serious? Seriously? Is this the best they could do? Do they not see the competition of Fords, and Buicks and Koreans these days? Are they blind? Can they see? They should place a sign at the side of the car saying,
    Warning please avoid from looking at the car to prevent anymore aging before the auto show."

    Seriously? Does VW really think this sedan's design is going to outsell its rivals?

  7. Hmmm?

    The more I look at this, the more the profile really resembles the first generation Toyota Avalon/Pronard.

    Note: Not A Complement.

  8. The Passat never set the world on fire but it was a great unique looking car. If this is like the new jetta this is going to be a very boring cheap car.

  9. Why do people keep bashing on VW reliability? I own a VW and know plenty of other people who own one and have never had any issues.

  10. Why, because I bought a new VW a few years ago and it was the worst POS I have ever owned. It guzzled oil, airbags faulted multiple times, rattles everywhere, glovebox hinge broke. Mind you, I went out of my way to find a German-produced model. Shall I continue?

  11. To anonymous who wants to know why people keep bashing VW reliability: Maybe those people own or owned a Volkswagen. I did, and I will never get another one. And I realize that any car can have problems, but the way I was treated by VW's customer service department is what really has me against the company. And I think that I am not alone. Volkswagen is third from the bottom in JD Powers survey of reliability for 2010. Consider yourself lucky that you didn't get one of the bad ones. But after getting stuck with one, you aren't going to be praising VW anymore. By the way, I loved the way my Passat looked, I felt like I was getting an Audi at a bargain price. But looking at this one, I don't think too many people are going to be making that mistake.

  12. Man, is this thing booooring! VW is more stupid than I thought!
    Why do people keep bashing VW for poor reliability? Because they make junk and they have for thirty years.
    VW ought to pack up and go back to Europe where they don't care about boring junk.

  13. Avalon Impala blah gag.

    what's funny is the knuckleheads in charge of VW think that this is what is supposed to get them to 1 million + sales in the US. Dunderheads.

  14. I have zero idea how this is supposed to compete with any of the current midsize offerings.

    I WILL hold judgement until seeing it in person (like our man Vince said – the Jetta IS better looking in person).

    However, it's very unlikely you'd see me in this car.

    It just baffles me how the same company that made the CC (best looking car on the market – period) could barf up this thing. Did VW hire the Corolla designers or something? I must have missed that memo.

  15. This car is disgusting, base model or not. The new cheapened Jetta has NOT received a lot of praise, in fact it has been panned pretty harshly.

    It seems that VW is trying to out Toyota Toyota, but they are missing one key ingredient: Reliability.

    This has fail written all over it.

    "Anonymous said…
    Why do people keep bashing on VW reliability? I own a VW and know plenty of other people who own one and have never had any issues.

    December 7, 2010 3:28 PM"

    You are one of those clueless VW owners. Why do people keep on bashing VW?

    VW is AT THE BOTTOM or very close to the bottom of the reliability and dependability studies from:

    1. JD Power
    2. TrueDelta
    3. Consumer Reports

    All of those companies/publications have statistically sound research methods that you can trust. They all say VWs are terrible.

    Also, to top that off, FOUR VW products have been LEMONED where I work. Two late model Touaregs, a Passat, and an A4.

    My best friend had a 2008 GTI, in the year and a half he owned it, it was in the shop for nearly a month and a half. VW didn't lemon it and the multiple dealerships he went to for repair were worthless and disrespectful.

    A friend of mine had a 2007 Jetta and it was NOTHING but a problem vehicle with something constantly failing on it. It was sold with less than 50,000 miles on it.

  16. If you have a reliable VW, consider yourself very lucky! I got really burned and I'm never going back and I'm clearly not alone on this.

  17. I have read on another website that this is the Passat for the Chinese market. I guess Volkswagen's strategy is to make it so bland that not even the Chinese would copy it.

  18. Does anybody really look to consumer reports for car reliabilty? They seem to have three criteria for recommending cars 1.Is it a Honda or Toyota?
    2.Is it safe? 3.Would a middle aged person who does not care much for cars like it?

  19. "Anonymous said…
    Does anybody really look to consumer reports for car reliabilty? They seem to have three criteria for recommending cars 1.Is it a Honda or Toyota?
    2.Is it safe? 3.Would a middle aged person who does not care much for cars like it?

    December 8, 2010 11:27 PM"

    That is the main thing people look at for Consumer Reports.

    Their vehicle testing is a joke, but their reliability studies are definitely NOT a joke. People take them seriously.

    You are over-generalizing things here.

  20. here is whats happening here. It's obvious that one of VWs major competitors, that is threatened by their quick growth is behind this. Yes, Some company has paid their top designer to peruse a job at VW and ruin their reputation in the style department. This is the work of a company with no concern for ethics. an inside job for sure. VW would never put out such a disaster in design…..yuk!

  21. VW is going after Accord and Camry with the new, bigger, US-built, Mid-Size Sedan. Does it look better than those two cars? To my educated eyes, the answer is Yes.

  22. "truth is…. said…
    the Altima is the best car according to consumer reports, not the accord, camry or vw

    December 9, 2010 4:26 PM"

    The Altima V6 won by ONE point in the road test.

    The Altima with the 2.5 isn't the top rated mid-size.

    Both the 2.5 and the 3.5 aren't the most reliable compared to the Honda or the Toyota. Looks like it isn't such a big winner to me. I'd rather trade ONE point on a scale of 1-100 and have a more reliable vehicle in the end.

  23. Great car!

    Pros:
    – cheap
    – timeless design
    – (probably) reliable like any other volkswagen i owned over the years…

    Cons:
    – none

  24. A bunch of asian manufacturers (Kia et al) have poached all of the decent design people from VAG, and it shows.

  25. Count me as the only one so far who likes the styling of this car. It's conservative, yes, but in good taste. Better to my eye than the contrived styling of the Sonata.

    And it will be bigger and cheaper than the current (2010) Passat. Volkswagen will sell more of these than they do of the current Passat.

    But I would have largely preferred that VW bring the new updated 2011 Passat to North America:

    https://europecarnews.com/2011-volkswagen-passat/

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