Volkswagen has just hit a massive milestone with the Passat. The company says that the car is the biggest-selling mid-range car ever, hitting 30 million units on April 3rd.
The first Passat launched back in 1973. Since then, the car has seen quite a few generations. Just how many is tough to say because the Passat has had some different names in different markets. And right now the car sold here isn't the same one as in China, and neither of those is the car sold in Europe. It's seen power ranging from 48 hp all the way up to 296, with as few as three cylinders and as many as eight.
It makes the Passat the second VW nameplate to top 30 million sales. The Golf topped that figure several years back, putting only the Ford F-Series and Toyota Corolla ahead of the two vee-dubs for all-time sales.
"The Passat is one of Volkswagen’s most important and most successful cars – since its launch 46 years ago, 30 million customers have had confidence in this Volkswagen vehicle. As a result, the Passat has become one of the world’s greats; a car which today is as much at home in Beijing as it is in Berlin, Sydney, Johannesburg or on the streets of San Francisco. At Volkswagen we are proud of this successful model," said VW COO Ralf Brandstätter.
The 30 millionth Passat was built in the company's Emden plant, though the cars are currently built at 10 plants worldwide. It was a GTE model station wagon, a plug-in hybrid version we don't see in Canada, boasting a 55 km electric range and 218 hp.
Volkswagen's plan is to put the milestone car into the company's media and test fleet, so it should certainly see some interesting miles.
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