Volkswagen is releasing only its premium Passat CC, writes motoring editor Alastair Sloane
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Volkswagen is limiting its new Passat CC four-door coupe to one model in New Zealand, a top-end unit offering everything that opens and shuts for $88,990. The German carmaker has four petrol and diesel CC models in most markets but its New Zealand distributor went with the premium example to sit at the top of the Passat range, about $5000 above the R36 sedan.
It didn't want to introduce the less-expensive CC models and risk pulling buyers away from the mainstream Passat range of sedans and wagons.
The CC is a Passat in name only, its coupe-like design making it exclusive. There is no other VW in this country remotely like it.
The only other car that resembles it is the more expensive CLS Mercedes-Benz, the model that introduced the four-door coupe concept a few years ago.
The CC stands for Comfort Coupe, mostly because it has two roomy individual rear seats, separated by a form-fitting drinks holder and storage unit.
The CC doing the rounds in Auckland is the only one in the country.
A few more will arrive next month, each powered by a 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine driving all four wheels via VW's new-generation 4Motion system and a six-speed DSG gearbox.
VW's head office in Germany doesn't expect the CC to break sales records. It will be a rare car in most markets, with worldwide sales of perhaps 6000 units across the range in a typical year.
The V6 variant might account for 2 per cent of the total.
Unlike the others, the V6 gets the new DCC adaptive chassis control as standard. This system adjusts the damper settings as well as the weight of the electro-mechanical steering, giving the driver a choice between normal, sport and comfort modes.
VW says its new 4Motion system works full-time, in that it doesn't wait for one of the wheels to lose traction before it kicks in. It says 100 per cent of the engine's torque can be directed to the rear axle. The direct-injection V6 produces 220kW at 6000rpm and 350Nm of torque between 2400 and 5300rpm.
A brief drive on a mix of roads around Auckland reveals a quick car with predictable handling, plenty of grip, and a very good ride, certainly better than expected.
It isn't as driver-focused as one or two of stablemate Audi's brisker offerings but it is long-legged tourer with a classy, functional interior, and a big, practical boot.
Just watch your head getting in and out of the car. That's the four-door coupe design compromise.
Meantime, VW's chief executive officer Martin Winterkorn expects the carmaker to meet its 2008 targets but believes worldwide market conditions could deteriorate in 2009.
"The economic feelers we have extended predict critical times ahead," he said at the launch of the new sixth-generation Golf hatchback, which is expected to go on sale here early next year.
"We've become more cautious regarding 2009, but from today's perspective we do not expect an overall decline in group deliveries," he added.
Winterkorn said he was concerned that in the troubled US market a rival like General Motors could benefit from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which would allow it to change labour agreements and other contractual obligations to cut costs and could give GM a theoretical competitive advantage.
"We're afraid of that ... Whoever thinks that Ford and GM might disappear from the market has made the wrong calculation," he said.
