VW solved it and people stopped buying.
A Chinese insurance company failed to pass a crash test on a Volkswagen Passat in December 2019. The controversy caused VW to re-engineer the model, but sales of the vehicle plummeted.
Although the Chinese government passed the Passat’s C-NCAP test, CIRI Auto Technology Institute has a stricter evaluation process. This test included a small overlap collision that placed 25 percent of the vehicle’s front against an obstacle. The C-NCAP overlap test, on the other hand, uses only 40 percent of the nose to impact.
The Passat’s Apillar was ripped in half by the impact. Instead of the dummy’s head touching the airbag, the person’s face crashed into the dashboard. Clear reasons were given by CIRI to give the VW a poor rating.
Reuters states that there was a huge public backlash against VW China. The company responded by sending engineers from its SAIC-Volkswagen joint enterprise to find a solution for the Passat. The sedan required extra material at its front, which would add approximately 400 yuan ($62).
VW introduced the modified Passat in mid 2020. The model passed the small overlap crash test when CIRI retested it.
But, Chinese buyers haven’t been as quick to buy the Passat. The sedan’s sales fell 32 percent in 2020 according to VW-SAIC. Reuters shows that overall vehicle deliveries in China dropped 6.8 percent last year even taking COVID-19 into consideration.
The US will soon be ending the Passat’s 2022 model year. VW will send it off in America with 1,973 examples (gallery below) of the Limited Edition that is loaded with features.