THE new Volkswagen Passat is Europe’s “Car of the Year 2015”.
The new Passat won the award, which is presented every year by the international “Car of the Year” jury. The winner was announced on the afternoon before the press days at the Geneva International Motor Show (05-15 March).
“Car of the Year” award
- Been running every year since 1964.
- Jury consists of 58 European motoring journalists from 22 countries
- Seven car of the year candidates nominated ahead of the final which undergo detailed testing, comparisons and evaluations based on criteria such as economy, comfort, safety, driving characteristics, functionality, design and technical progress
- 52nd edition of the traditional competition, the new Passat triumphed over its six rivals in the final with a total score of 340 points.
- Two current Volkswagen models have already received the Car of the Year award: Polo (2010) and Golf (2013).
The Citroën C4 Cactus finished second on 248 points, then Mercedes C-class (221 points), Ford Mondeo (203), Nissan Qashqai (160), BMW 2-series Active Tourer (154) and Renault Twingo (124).
“We are extremely proud of this accolade,” explained Prof. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen at the prize-giving ceremony in Geneva.
“In the new Passat, we have again succeeded in developing a car that sets the standards for its class in terms of technology and quality.
“This honour is a tremendous confirmation for the work of our engineers, designers and the entire team.
“The new Passat shows that the Volkswagen brand has the right answers to the challenges of our time.”
At the same time, Volkswagen announced that the first plug-in hybrid Passat – the Passat GTE – would be available at the start of Q3.
The Passat GTE features a 156 PS 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine with an electric motor that produces 115 PS. Torque – the low down pulling power of the Passat GTE – is 400Nm.
Volkswagen says the new Passat GTE plug-in hybrid will have CO2 emissions below 45g/km, giving the car a highly advantageous company car tax banding of just 5% in the 2015/16 tax year.
