What does the public want when the production of Passat is discontinued?

When the ID.3 won the top sales of new energy vehicles in Europe in its first month on the market, Volkswagen had to stop practicing martial ethics.

Is the Passat, the legendary car of the first generation, going to be discontinued? Yes, you heard it right. But not in China, but in North America and Europe. Volkswagen said that its factory in Tennessee, USA, will officially cease production and stop selling Passat in 2023. Why was production discontinued? The explanation given by Volkswagen is: "In the future, the share of the mid-size sedan market in the United States will be negligible."

Indeed, the preferences of North American consumers are mainly concentrated in the two market segments of SUVs and pickup trucks. superior. Data shows that among the ten best-selling models in the United States in 2019, the top three are all pickup trucks, the 4th to 7th positions are all occupied by SUVs, and the 8th to 10th positions are occupied by three Japanese sedans. Among them, only Toyota Camry is a mid-size car.

However, it should be pointed out that although the U.S. market prefers pickup trucks and SUVs, it does not mean that there is no room in the mid-size car market. The Camry sold 336,000 units in the U.S. last year, while the Passat only sold 336,000 units in the U.S. last year. 14,000 units. In the Chinese market on the other side of the ocean, Passat's sales in December last year reached 27,000 units, and it ranked first among mid-size car sales throughout the year with 218,000 units. It can be seen that sluggish sales are also a major reason for the suspension of Passat production in North America.

The situation of the European Passat (i.e. Magotan) is another story. In the first ten months of this year, its sales reached 88,000 units, making it the best-selling mid-size car in Europe. Volkswagen emphasized that although the Passat sedan version will be discontinued in the future, its travel version will still be retained. It can be seen that the suspension of Passat production in Europe is generally regarded as Volkswagen's proactive strategic adjustment, rather than being forced to abandon the market segment.

In the Chinese market, Passat is the absolute main force of SAIC Volkswagen in the mid-size car market, and its importance is beyond doubt. Since entering China in 2000, Passat's total sales in China have reached 2.6 million units. Even though a well-known incident occurred last year and Passat's sales in China were lower than before, the cumulative sales in the first ten months of this year were still as high as 103,000 units. This shows Passat's market appeal in China. It is precisely in view of the market performance in the European and Chinese markets that Volkswagen said it will continue to develop the ninth-generation Passat.

Although the ninth-generation Passat is already on the way, Volkswagen said that the Passat production line in Europe will be moved from Emden, Germany to Bratislava, Slovakia in 2003. Emden will undergo electrification transformation and will produce a mid-size car code-named Aero?B and ID.4 crossover in the future.

It is generally believed that moving Passat production out of Germany and replacing it with electrified models may be just the epitome of Volkswagen's electrification transformation strategy.

“The era of traditional cars is over.” In January this year, Volkswagen CEO Diess said this at the company’s global management meeting. It was under his active promotion that Volkswagen became the most active in electrification transformation among traditional car companies, and spent US$7 billion (approximately RMB 50 billion) to build Volkswagen's first exclusive MEB platform for electric vehicles. Since the second half of this year, ID.3 and ID.4 built on the MEB platform have been launched in Europe and North America respectively. It is reported that the sales volume of ID.3 exceeded 10,000 units in the first month after its launch, becoming the best-selling new energy vehicle in Europe. The sales momentum of ID.4 in North America is also extremely hot, and consumers even crowded the official Volkswagen website for a time. In China, the first MEB models of North and South Volkswagen Guanghe 4? , the market is optimistic about the prospects of Guanghe 4?X and ID.4?CROZZ sales in China.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.