Volkswagen Passat’s prices for the US market announced

Volkswagen has pegged the price for the base model of the Passat in the US at USD 20,895 (Rs 13.23 lakh). On Friday, following the recent launch of the new 2.5-litre inline-five-replacing EA888 1.8-litre turbocharged and direct-injection TSI on the Jetta and Passat 1.8T SEL Premium, VW released pricing for the remainder of the Passat line-up.

The 2014 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T S starts at USD 20,895 (Rs 13.23 lakh) and comes with a five-speed manual transmission as standard. The base trim is available with keyless entry, steering wheel audio controls, Bluetooth, and other basic amenities. Moving onto the Wolfsburg Edition, for USD 23,965 (Rs 15.16 lakh), it gets leathered upholstery, leather-wrapped steering wheel, heated front seats, satellite radio and a six-speed automatic as standard. The SE trim starts at USD 24,475 (Rs 15.48 lakh) and adds rearview camera, rear seat vents, an eight-speaker sound system and a touchscreen interface. The addition of a sunroof and navigation system will bring it upto USD 27,555 (Rs 17.43 lakh). All models come with a USD 820 (Rs 51,881.40) destination charge.

The new engine is the third generation of the EA888 family. It’s a direct-injected 1.8-litre turbo four that develops 170bhp and 249.47Nm of torque. In addition to the better fuel economy and improved acceleration, the new EA888 will be more refined, the torque curve usable and quite pleasurable to drive.

Another feature debuting in the Passat for the 2014 model year is the Car-Net telematics service, or VW’s OnStar, including roadside assistance, automatic crash notification, and remote vehicle access. It is highly doubtful if this will be offered in India though.

The Passat had entered the Indian market back in 2007 and three years down the line, in 2011, an all-new Passat was launched with highly innovative BlueMotion Technologies and is available to customers in the diesel variant in both automatic and manual transmissions. The base model was then priced at Rs 20.80 lakh. Now, with the 2014 Volkswagen Passat coming, we do expect it in the country some time towards the end of next year and probably will be see a price increase of Rs one lakh at the most.

Source: Motortrend