Starting from Tuesday [Oct.19], UK buyers will be able to place their order for the redesigned Volkswagen Passat. Available in sedan and Estate variants, the new car will cost from �18,470 for the entry-level saloon with a 122HP 1.4-liter TSI petrol to �26,955 for the station-wagon with the 170HP 2.0-liter turbo diesel and a DSG transmission.
We first showed you the redesigned 2011 Volkswagen Passat B7 at its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show earlier this month, but thanks to the German automaker, we now have a plethora of new images that were released as the car goes on sale across Europe.
A Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion driven by Sunday Times journo Gavin Conway has been awarded a Guinness World Record for the longest distance travelled by an unmodified production car on a single tank of fuel.
The three-day trip began in Maidstone, England, where the Passat's tank was drained and filled with 77.25 liters (20.41 US gallons) of diesel. The journey finally ended close to Calais after 1,526.63 miles (2,456.87 km), the equivalent of driving halfway from New York to Los Angeles.
At the 2010 Paris Motor Show, we saw three new mid-size sedans making their way to the halls of the Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles. Two of them, the all-new Peugeot 508 and the redesigned VW Passat B7, received their world premiere, while the Kia Optima was presented for the first time in Europe.
Now, we all know you can't and you shouldn't buy a car based upon looks or preliminary specs alone. It's the whole package that counts. However, in this case, we simply want to find out which one of these new family sedans captured your attention for the right reasons.
Place your vote in the poll after the jump and be sure to have your say in the comments section.
[Fresh pics added] What can we expect from the crisp, facelifted B6 Passat? Well, for one thing, it's actually labeled a seventh-generation model even though it's clearly B6-derived. In its defense, VW says "every body panel apart from the roof is new".
Said new panels extend the car by 4 millimeters (4,769 mm for sedan, 4,771 mm Estate), while the width and height remain the same at 1,820 mm and 1,474 mm, respectively.
Up front, the nose gets a more attractive grille / headlight treatment and is more in-line with VW's current styling. On the outer edges of the new, chromey grille reside LED running lights. At the rear, the tail lights get chrome accents and blend nicely with the sharper lines of VW's family saloon.
In an effort to stem the outpouring of criticism aimed directly at the recently-revealed B7 Passat, VW has released some more pics of the upcoming American NMS (New Midsize Sedan). Thankfully, we here in the States won't have to deal with the reskinned Passat and its - according to our readers - "boring" looks. Instead, we'll be getting a production version of the car seen here, Teutonic and built in Tennessee.
Volkswagen will reveal its future plans in a meeting with its 582 U.S. and 130 Canadian dealers that takes place in Atlanta and will also include a drive of more than 700 all-new 2011 Volkswagen Jetta sedans to the company's brand-new $1 billion assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In a statement to the press, the German automaker said it plans to introduce four all-new or refreshed models in 2011 including the NMS mid-size sedan, Beetle, Tiguan and Eos.
