Volkswagen Passat gets tech upgrade for 2018

Volkswagen is offering more standard equipment on the Volkswagen Passat as part of an update for 2018.

All versions of Passat saloon and estate models now come as standard with Volkswagen’s App Connect smartphone linking technology, which features Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and MirrorLink.

SE Business, GT and Alltrack trims also get LED headlights as standard, alongside LED daytime running lights that flash orange when the indicator is on.

SE Business, R-Line and Alltrack join GT as trims that get heated front seats as standard. SE Business gets three-zone climate control, too, allowing the driver, front passenger and rear occupants to set their own temperatures. There’s also a colour multi-function display in the instrument cluster.

Of all the trim levels, SE Business – popular with fleet buyers – receives the largest amount of new standard kit. That model now commands £25,415, which is a price increase of £550, but it comes with £1,955 worth of extra equipment.

The entry model, S, now costs from £22,025, while the price of the top-of-the-range R-Line 4Motion, which comes with a 237bhp turbocharged diesel engine and all-wheel drive, starts at £37,455.

The Passat GTE, Volkswagen’s plug-in variant, costs from £34,930 when the government’s £2500 grant is applied.

Volkswagen enjoyed strong sales in 2017 despite ongoing economic uncertainty. It achieved 0.69% growth in UK market share, which reached 8.21%. The brand delivered 208,462 cars to British customers across the 12 months, an increase of 1434 cars over 2016.

The Volkswagen Golf was Volkswagen's best-selling car in December, finding 6209 homes, compared with 5029 for the Ford Fiesta. However, the Golf ranked second overall behind the Fiesta for 2017 with 74,605 registrations.