Ireland bucks the saloon trend for new Passat

Volkswagen has just launched the new Passat saloon and estate onto the Irish market, with prices starting from €27,295 for the most basic 1.4 TSI petrol turbo and €28,940 for the new 1.20hp 1.6 TDI diesel. All models get a touchscreen stereo, keyless ignition, a leather steering wheel and Bluetooth phone connection, which you might expect. What you might not expect is who exactly is buying the Passat.

Such cars (large, four-door saloons with big boots and low Benefit-in-Kind tax ratings) are generally considered fleet-fodder – the refuge of the rep, and certainly across Europe that's the case and that's the sort of buyer these cars are pitched at. Not here though, where Volkswagen Group Ireland says that most of its Passat buyers are still private, personal buyers.

“I think the fleet market here in Ireland wouldn’t be as advanced as it is in other European countries” Paul O’ Sullivan, VWGI’s Director of Marketing told The Irish Times. “A combination of that, company car allowances and BIK rules from company to company means we see a lot more retail and private sales for the Passat.” Of course that’s just a fleet sale by another name, but what matters, statistically, is whose name is on the logbook…

The Passat is breaking another trend here in the Irish market by being hugely significant to VW's volume aspirations, second only to the all-conquering Golf. That is against the general trend in Europe for such mass-market large saloons, which are generally seeing as being squeezed out of the market by crossovers from below and premium-badge saloons from above. VW is targeting exactly those premium car buyers with the new Passat, especially BMW and Mercedes buyers (although diplomatically customers for VW stablemate Audi were not mentioned).

“When you look at segment shifts in the Irish market in the last little while, the growth of SUVs, of crossovers, the likes of the Qashqai, there has been a move away from the traditional bigger car. Part of that is the pressure of Co2 and road tax, people have been looking to smaller segments, but what we feel with the new Passat is that it’s going to bring back into the market those people who are still looking for a traditional large family or executive car” Mr O’Sullivan continued.

Having been top dog in the Irish market for the past three years now, VW has slipped behind the likes of Toyota and Hyundai in the early weeks of 2015 but Mr O'Sullivan is confined that the No.1 spot can be regained. "We always knew that the start of January was going to be challenging, and certain marques incentivise their dealers in terms of demos and so on at that time. We always knew this year was going to be more challenging because we didn't get Passats into showrooms in October-November, when all the research shows people are taking three to four months to decide on a new car.

“But the demand is there, the order bank is strong so it’ll just take a little time to catch up with that and get cars out on the road and we’re very confident for the year ahead. There is more natural buoyancy out there. As for pre-reging, from our point of view the more retail sales we make, the better. In fact, the numbers for this year could put people under pressure, a rising tide, growth brings its own challenges, especially with all the down-sizing we saw over the past six years.”