Here's a first look at the redesigned Passat. At first blush, I find it extremely plain and boring. All rectangular headlights, upper grille, lower grille, and bumper, excessive front overhang, ordinary greenhouse, plain, boring taillight shapes, 80's rear license plate cutout, and from what appears in the photos, the same dash we've all seen for the past 5-6 years. What a shame VW couldn't make this car stand out, like the popular 1998 model did. VW's new styling is a total reverse of everything it tried pushing for the last 15 years. *thumbs down*

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/volks...assat/#3415637

 

looks like a mini phaeton...

 

Looks like a less-bold Accord...

 

it is prolly the worst VW design in a long time (for major car)... Looks like it was done for Chinese market. And those are shopped pics... RL from the show are worse.

 

nothing new here.

it has always been bland.

 

Nice Buick.

 

front = boring new style Jetta
back = boring old style Buick
interior = just boring

 

Bland but not too bad but the interior is awful.

 

I agree on both points...That interior is un-VW like...

 

It's a nice play and an old idea.

 

This looks more like a refresh. The shape of the greenhouse, creases in the door, and interior are all identical to the current model.

 

It's okay.......but nothing breathtaking. One of the least desirable facelifts atm.

 

Bland-looking at best, the competition in the US market will be glad about this non-event of a new car release.

 

Considering that it needs to compete with cheaper (and boring) cars like the Camry, Altima, and Sonata; the Passat can dumb it down a little (in fact, it can dumb it down a lot).

The current Passat base price is $27k. That's a lot of money in this category. The Passat needs to cut $5k off that list price, minimum...

 

Agreed 100%. I think a lot of customers who consider a VW are also potential VW customers. The greater the difference between the 2, the better it is for both brands. VW has always been more expensive than their competitors and I'm glad that is starting to be address. Why get a VW when you can get an Audi for not much more. Of course, that means VW will have to cut corners to reach their competitors price points.