New Passat – NMS unveiled in China ahead of Shanghai Auto Show launch

Shanghai VW | Ash | March 25, 2011 at 10:05 pm

The NMS was one of the major sights at the North American Auto Show in January this year, the car was designed with North American and Chinese markets in mind where larger mid-size sedans are required. The Passat has already been an incredibly popular model in the Chinese market where it is used for business and home use, often being used as a chauffeured vehicle for mid level government ministers and business users.

The NMS was spotted out in downtown Shanghai, possibly ahead of a photo shoot of the new motor before its Shanghai Auto Show launch, of course these pictures made it to a certain blog and several influential websites before the day was over.

For the Chinese market the NMS will be known and marketed as the new Passat whilst the FAW produced Magotan will be upgraded to the European B7 model. A strange situation, but bare in mind that Chinese consumers (or at least fleet buyers) can still buy the Santana and the second generation Jetta quite freely. The NMS, or rather New Passat, will be packing the usual DSG gearboxes and 1.4TSI, 1.8TSI and 2.0TSI engines.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.