Volkswagen is looking to amp up the appeal of its best-selling sedan with the Passat GT Concept.
It’s roomy and reasonably well-equipped, but for a brand that normally likes to play to the passions of its buyers, the Volkswagen Passat can best be described as staid.
Not so the Volkswagen Passat GT Concept making its debut at this week’s Los Angeles Auto Show media preview. Designed and developed at VW’s Engineering and Planning Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the show car offers an assortment of tweaks and upgrades, both visual and functional, that could be thought of as an automotive steroid shot.
From a first glance, you’ll know this isn’t your boring uncle’s VW Passat. The suspension, for one thing, has been lowered by 0.6 inches, giving the midsize sedan a more solid and planted feel. Now add an assortment of sportier upgrades that clearly were inspired by the German maker’s Golf GTI.
That includes a red accented honeycomb grille framed by LED headlamp, new bumpers, red brake calipers, smoked taillights, black window surrounds and a black roof panel. A trunk spoiler and dual trapezoidal exhaust outlets add to the dressier appearance, as do 19-inch performance tires.
But the spoiler, brake calipers and other details are also meant to enhance the overall performance and handling of the Passat GT which is motivated by VW’s 280-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 engine paired to a six-speed dual clutch transmission with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters.
Lower and leaner looking, the styling on the Passat GT Concept is clearly derived from the GTI.
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There are numerous upgrades inside, as well, start with carbon-fiber-look door trim panels, and a similar pattern on the IP. The seats get sporty black-and-gray look with contrast stitching. And the piano black center console trim components accent the black headliner.
The development team responsible for the Passat GT is based at the Chattanooga plant that also happens to produce the U.S. version of the midsize sedan. Whether the show car will go into production isn’t clear, but it suggests that Volkswagen is finally taking advice it has been getting for decades, listening to what potential customers in the world’s largest market might like. The maker has long been faulted for insisting Americans should be happy with what the rest of the world gets.
“The Passat GT is an early example of how the new Volkswagen North American Region will meet the needs and desires of American customers going forward,” said Dr. Matthias Erb, Chief Engineering Officer for Volkswagen’s North American Region. “We have the freedom and the responsibility to shape future North American vehicles here in the U.S., combining engineering resources from around the world with our unique perspective and talented local team.”
With carbon-fiber-look door trim panels, and a similar pattern on the IP, the GT exudes “sport.” The seats add to that with a sporty black-and-gray look.
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The American market could really use the boost right now. VW sales have tanked since the maker acknowledged in late 2015 rigging its various diesel models to illegally pass U.S. emissions tests. Those diesels still can’t be sold in the States.
Complicating matters has been a shortage of product targeting the booming American SUV market, VW until now having just two offerings: the base Tiguan and the top-line Touareg.
The L.A. Auto Show will help address that issue, as well, show-goers getting their first look at the all-new, three-row Volkswagen Atlas SUV that was first shown at a private, media-only event in Santa Monica two weeks ago.
Adding that third ute while upgrading the Passat won’t resolve all of Volkswagen’s American problems, but it could help the troubled maker enhance its appeal at just the right time.
(Click Here to check out the new Volkswagen Atlas SUV.)