The Volkswagen Passat, a trade wind that blew through half a century of names
Named after the German word for trade winds, Volkswagen's family car has also been sold as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Corsar and Carat. With 34 million built since 1973, it ranks as the fourth best-selling car of all time, and at one point Volkswagen was selling three different cars under the same Passat badge.
The first generation arrived in 1973, styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro as a fastback version of the Audi 80 launched a year earlier. It replaced the ageing Type 3 and Type 4, and with front-wheel drive and a hatchback it was one of Europe's most modern family cars, rivalled in that layout only by the Renault 16 and Austin Maxi. In North America it became the Dasher, and in Brazil the first version stayed in production from 1974 until 1988.
The second generation, launched in November 1980, again borrowed the Audi 80's underpinnings and added a conventional saloon that Europe knew as the Santana until 1985. Americans bought it as the Quantum, Mexicans as the Corsar and Argentines as the Carat. Top versions got five-cylinder engines, and a Formel E gearbox with a very tall top gear and freewheeling saved fuel. Germany built 3,345,248 before production ended on 31 March 1988, out of roughly 4.5 million worldwide.
The third generation of 1988 broke away from Audi, using a stretched version of the Golf's platform with transverse engines. Its grille-less nose recalled older rear-engined Volkswagens and grew out of the Auto 2000 concept of 1981, and in North America it was finally sold as the Passat. The top 2.8-litre VR6 reached 224 km/h. A 1993 facelift restored a grille because the earlier face looked too passive, and a frugal turbodiesel estate could cover over 1,800 km on one tank, though fewer than 1,000 sold in the US.
Later branches multiplied. A larger, cheaper Passat built in Chattanooga and Nanjing appeared in 2011 to boost American sales, and a low-roofed CC four-door coupe led to the Arteon. The North American model ended after 2022, Europe dropped the saloon that year, and the 2023 generation comes only as an estate, while China keeps a saloon.
Source: Volkswagen Passat
