2000 Nissan Volkswagen Santana

More recently, Volkswagen has extended its range with the launch of the Passat CC, a 4-door "coupé" version of the Passat.

The Passat falls in the middle of the sedan/ saloon market segment and was critical to Volkswagen on its introduction in 1973, as the sales of the aging Beetle were declining, and larger air-cooled rear-engined models like the Volkswagen Type 3 and 411 and 412 based on older technology were also failing to take hold in the market.[citation needed]

Following the Volkswagen Group's acquisition of Audi in 1964, Volkswagen used new engineering expertise to develop a modern front-wheel drive car with a water-cooled engine, and thus the Passat and Golf (the latter being introduced in 1974) were the first of a new generation of Volkswagens. The first Passat was developed directly from the Audi 80/ Fox and until 2005 the two shared a history.

Europe

The original Volkswagen Passat was launched in 1973. The body types offered originally were 2- and 4-door sedans and similar looking three- and five-door versions. Externally all four shared a modern fastback style design, styled by the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. In essence, the first Passat was a fastback version of the mechanically identical Audi 80 sedan, introduced a year earlier. A five-door station wagon/ estate was introduced in 1974. In Europe, the Passat was equipped with 2 rectangular, 2 round 7", or 4 round 5.5" headlights depending on specification.