We don’t get any closer
The new Volkswagen Passat is only available as a Variant. At least, is that the case? AutoWeek can show you the new Volkswagen Passat in sedan form, although it is not called Passat and it has a different front that is adapted to the taste of the local consumer. You can feel it coming: this four-door cousin of the Passat is destined for China.
The new Volkswagen Passat builds on the hardware of its predecessor in terms of technology, but breaks hard with that car in another area. Unlike the previous generation of Passat – and all generations before it – the new Passat is only available as a Variant. There will therefore no longer be a sedan version of the Passat in Europe. In Europe, indeed. Elsewhere in the world, the Passat will be available as a sedan. At least, to a certain extent.
The outgoing Magotan: a longer version of our previous Passat Sedan.
For the sedan cousin of the new Volkswagen Passat Variant, we travel to the country that is a true mecca for lovers of automotive curiosities and striking model changes: China. In China, Volkswagen sells many models that you will not find in Volkswagen showrooms in Europe. One of them is called Volkswagen Passat, but it has virtually nothing to do with the Volkswagen Passat sold in Europe. Then there is the Volkswagen Magotan. That one is more interesting. At least, the link with Europe is greater. The Volkswagen Magotan that is still in the Chinese Volkswagen showrooms is the sedan version of the previous generation Passat (B8) with a longer body and stretched wheelbase. That Volkswagen Magotan will soon be replaced by a new model. AutoWeek has already surfaced the first photos and information of that Magotan from the database of the Chinese Ministry of Transport and Information Technology.
The new Volkswagen Magotan (China)
The concept of the Magotan changes little and that is what makes the model so interesting. The new Magotan is actually the extended version of what would have been the sedan version of the new European Volkswagen Passat, although it never came to be. The new Magotan is actually the Chinese sedan brother of our new Passat Variant. However, FAW-Volkswagen – the Chinese joint venture that will produce the car – has added a strikingly sharply cut nose, which is completely different from the round snout of our Passat Variant.
The new Skoda Superb.
The new Volkswagen Magotan is 4.99 meters long and has a wheelbase of 2.87 meters. The wheelbase is the same as that of the outgoing Magotan. The European Passat Variant has 2.84 meters between the front and rear axles. The Magotan will be available in China with a 220 hp 2.0 TSI. Do you want something Passat-sized from the Volkswagen Group in the Netherlands? Then consider the new Skoda Superb. It is available as a Combi and as a liftback. In any case, viewed from the side, the Magotan in these photos shows strong similarities with the Czech.
Tiguan L
To give this story a little more meat, we have another new Chinese Volkswagen. We are talking about the Volkswagen Tiguan L Pro. That car is easier to explain. After all, it is the extended version of the new Volkswagen Tiguan that has also been presented in Europe. The Volkswagen Tiguan L Pro is 4.74 meters long and has a wheelbase of 2.79 meters. This makes it twenty centimeters longer than ‘our Tiguan’. The wheelbase is eleven centimeters longer.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl