Volkswagen Passat Dubbed Motor Trend's 2012 Car of The Year

November 18th, 2011

Cory Wolfe - CheersandGears.com

In January, Volkswagen first showed us their vision for an Americanized Passat, meant to take the midsize segment by storm. Many of us failed to muster anything more than a uninterested yawn with the re-engineered sedan receiving mostly mixed opinions from writers and enthusiasts alike. After being hyped up by Volkswagen's award-winning television commercials and finally reaching dealerships, it seems the tide might be turning. It's now won a handful of comparisons by major media outlets, sales are steadily increasing, and perception of the new Passat seems to be growing positive. Volkswagen has now collected its biggest accolade yet for the new midsize sedan: Motor Trend's famed Car of The Year award.

With its largest-ever field of contestants, Motor Trend had a difficult job of picking it's new COTY for 2012. Judging everything from the newly introduced Chevrolet Sonic and Fiat 500, to updated segment-stalwarts like the Toyota Camry and Chrysler 300, this 33 vehicle test had nearly everything to offer. After testing on Hyundai/Kia's proving grounds, Motor Trend consolidated the field down to 10 finalists: Audi A6, BMW 650i, Buick Verano, Chevrolet Sonic, Chrysler 300, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Veloster, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Nissan Leaf, and the Volkswagon Passat. This year's award came down to a nerve-wracking decision for Motor Trend's COTY judges. Ultimately decided by a single vote, the Volkswagen Passat beat out the Chrysler 300, winner of the 2005 COTY award, to take home the famed 'golden calipers' this year. Editor Frank Markus finishes the article, saying "As for our jury? The verdict is in: Volkswagen's less-boring-than-it-looks, 100-percent-German-driving Passat is Motor Trend's Car of the Year."

Click here to read the article featuring Contenders and Finalists

Click here to read the article featuring the 2012 COTY Winner

Click here to view our gallery of 2012 Passat at NAIAS 2011

What do you think, C&G, has Motor Trend named the best car as COTY, or is this another COTY faux pas?

IMHO a Worthy car....

Kind of a safe choice...odd that the C-class was in the running, '12 was just a mild MCE and not a redesign. Of the nominees, I've only driven one---the 300--which I liked quite a bit.

Jalop make a huge stink over this pick.

Jalopnik says lots of things just to get people to read it. I'm not sure how much they believe themselves...it's about about SEO.

I'm currently driving the Passat SEL TDI. The styling is nice and inoffensive...but more attractive than the Camrys and Accords of the world. It drives very nice, however it's not the old (Audi-based) Passat I used to love. I would buy this car, though. The diesel gets excellent mileage...I'm currently getting somewhere in the 35 mpg range in regular driving.

we will be doing a Passat interactive review starting 12/08