VW cars at Olympics

[vanDub]

Help me out you more knowledgeable types.

The course cars for the cycling road race look like my MY08 Passat, but the lights seem slightly different. The headlights seem to be straight at the bottom (no cutout in the bumper) and, in the quick rear view I got, the tail lights seem to be in the rear guard only with nothing on the boot lid.

Are these the MY09 model available to us or a Chinese Passat copy / model for their domestic market?

[TSi2NV]

China has a Dub plant and I beleive that some of the Dubs that come out of it are only for the Chinesse market, I think you will find they are still passett's but just Chinesse spec

[Tim]

the passats i saw looked like older generation ones with a facelift grille

[phaeton]

Help me out you more knowledgeable types.

The course cars for the cycling road race look like my MY08 Passat, but the lights seem slightly different. The headlights seem to be straight at the bottom (no cutout in the bumper) and, in the quick rear view I got, the tail lights seem to be in the rear guard only with nothing on the boot lid.

Are these the MY09 model available to us or a Chinese Passat copy / model for their domestic market?

Its the Passat Lingyu - Official Site in English which is based on prevoius generation Passat

[RhysQ]

i watched a lot of the road race and did not see any Passat's but a hell of a lot of Skoda's. maybe could also be these?

as mentioned above, there are also chinese spec VW's which are absolutely rubbish, they all look like Kia's .

[Golf Houso]

i watched a lot of the road race and did not see any Passat's but a hell of a lot of Skoda's. maybe could also be these?

as mentioned above, there are also chinese spec VW's which are absolutely rubbish, they all look like Kia's .

Just because they're made in China and are styled in China, doesn't necessarily mean its a bad car. How is China any different to say SA or the Czech republic? I think this is more a matter of perception and association of ideas between mass produced cheap Chinese goods and cars...

[snodrogs]

I have a freind who has just come back from China on business, and he commented on the number of Passats he noticed when he was over there. Knowing I was about to pick up my new baby, he asked some of the locals.

Apparently ALL cars that are driven in China are required to be manufactured there. VW was awarded as Official motoring Partner for the Olympics, so there was a strong push for manufacturing in the Country, culminating in the launch of the "Chinese" Passat in 2005. VW Group are supplying courtesy vehicles for officials and guests etc. as well as the vehicles used in the road racing. I wonder how much those custom roof racks cost?

There is an article in the latest (Winter/Spring) Volkswagen Magazine.

Andrew

[walshydub]

They looked like a hybrid of the previous gen passat with Audi A6 headlights.

[RhysQ]

Just because they're made in China and are styled in China, doesn't necessarily mean its a bad car. How is China any different to say SA or the Czech republic? I think this is more a matter of perception and association of ideas between mass produced cheap Chinese goods and cars...

i was more referring to the styling rather than the actual build quality, hence the comment "they all look like kia's".

Rhys

[Golf Houso]

i was more referring to the styling rather than the actual build quality, hence the comment "they all look like kia's".

Rhys

Oh well yeah your pretty much right, just look at any car thats built in SE Asia they all have that Mickey Mouse look to them ...