The Volkswagen Passat sedan has left Europe. The Chinese version is still in service

The once-popular four-door has disappeared from Volkswagen's European consumer websites, which means it won't be around even in recent times.

We talked about the loss of the Passat version of the sedan in Europe back in November 2020, but then it was assumed that the four-door would last until the end of the life cycle of the current B8 generation, that is, until 2023. Unfortunately, Volkswagen management signed the verdict on the sedan much earlier: according to the British magazine Autocar, the production of the four-door in Germany would have been stopped before the Catholic Christmas. Currently only the Passat Variant wagon is available for order, which accounts for about two-thirds of the model's sales in Europe and is expected to have a direct combustion engine successor on a redesigned MQB platform in 2023. trade name will be different) – its market debut is also expected in 2023.

The current European Volkswagen Passat B8 debuted in 2014 and underwent a planned makeover in 2019. The photos show the updated version.

The early retirement of the sedan has not been officially commented on, but we believe it is due to the decline in sales of the Passat model, the exodus of traditional car buyers into the SUV segment and, of course, the lack of chips – an unpopular version, it can be donated to have enough silicon for other more popular cars.

If 15 years ago Passat was sold in Europe with a circulation of more than 300 thousand units per year, then in 2019, according to the CarSalesBase resource, demand fell to 124,650 units, in 2020 – to 115,363 units, they were sold in 11 months of 2021 77,877 units. However, Passat remains the leader of the non-premium D-segment: for comparison, let's say that Skoda Superb was sold from January to November last year in the amount of 43,057 units, Peugeot 508 – 23,688 units, VW Arteon – 19,998 units, Opel Insignia – 19 411 pcs., Ford Mondeo — 12,648 pcs., Toyota Camry — 7671 pcs., Renault Talisman — 5320 pcs., Mazda 6 — 4642 pcs.

VW Arteon, by the way, can partially replace the Passat sedan: it is still available in Europe in two body styles – a liftback and a station wagon, the liftback looks like a sedan from the outside, that is, it is quite prestigious. But in general, Arteon was recognized as an unsuccessful model, he will not have an heir, Arteon left the current market in 2020.

The Passat sedan is still on Volkswagen's current consumer site, but it won't be for long. Only 596 Passats have been sold recently in the first three quarters of 2021, with the station wagon offered exclusively in the Alltrack motocross version, according to the AEB.

We add that last year, due to low demand, the American version of the Volkswagen Passat sedan was removed, and in China, the Volkswagen Santana model, the progenitor of the second generation Passat, will soon be removed from the assembly line. Meanwhile, the production of the current Chinese Passat continues: last year, the local sedan was restyled and from January to November it was sold in a circulation of 109,778 units. It is not yet known whether the Chinese Passat will have a successor.