Volkswagen refreshed the North American Passat in 2015 for the 2016 model year with styling and technology updates, including revised hood, front fenders, front and rear bumpers, and trunklid. In China, the new model is built by SAIC-Volkswagen at its Nanjing factory and is marketed as a more upscale model with some interior and exterior differences to the North American model, such as wood-trimmed steering wheel, rear air vents, and LED accented headlights. The five-seater sedan is available in four trim levels, all with a 170 hp (172 PS 127 kW) 2.5-litre 5-cylinder engine and an automatic transmission only. The American version of the 2013 model year Volkswagen Passat made its way to Middle Eastern markets, namely Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, by the summer of 2012. The new facility is a "flex plant" which will allow for the production of vehicles based on the NMS and MQB platforms. In the United States, it is produced in Volkswagen Group of America's new Chattanooga, Tennessee production facility using 80% US-sourced parts. The vehicle was developed by SAIC-Volkswagen and Volkswagen Passenger Cars, and it sits on an extended version of the European car’s platform, which makes it 3.9 in (10 cm) longer, 0.5 in (1.3 cm) wider and therefore offers larger cabin space. The Passat NMS interior borrows design elements from the European Passat, e.g., the traditional clock. The Passat NMS reflects a design language developed by Walter de Silva, the Italian design chief for the Volkswagen Group, and Klaus Bischoff, the German design leader for the Volkswagen brand. Volkswagen released a sketch of the Passat NMS in February 2009 and a more detailed, second sketch on 28 October 2009. The Chinese-market Passat launched in 2019 is built on a completely different platform, which is the Volkswagen Group MQB, and has been lengthened in wheelbase and overall length compared to its predecessor.
The North American Passat continued to use the same platform with the A32/A33 Passat NMS introduced in 2011, essentially making it a reskinned version of its predecessor. The second generation Passat for North America and China has been diverged into two different models, both released in 2019. While it is larger, the model is more downscale compared to the European Passat to achieve a lower price point in order to penetrate the mainstream mid-size sedan market in the North American market. In China, it is sold alongside the long-wheelbase version of the European Passat known as the Magotan.Īt its introduction, the Passat NMS was part of Volkswagen Group's strategy to sell over 800,000 vehicles per year in the North American market by 2018. The Passat NMS is marketed in the North America, Middle East, and China, with no wagon/estate version available. It replaced the Passat B6 in the North American market. The Volkswagen Passat for the North American and Chinese markets (internally designated Volkswagen New Midsize Sedan, or NMS while under development ) is a mid-sized sedan that debuted in January 2011 at the Detroit Auto Show.