The management of Volkswagen AG on Monday said it will end U.S. sales and production of the Passat sedan next year, the latest shift by automakers away from cars and toward larger sport utility vehicles.
Volkswagen said it will end U.S. assembly of the Passat sedan in Tennessee with model year 2022. VW has sold various versions of the Passat since 1974 in the United States – initially under the Dasher and Quantum names – and the Passat name first appeared in the U.S. market in 1990.
Since 2011, Volkswagen has built more than 700,000 Passat vehicles at its Chattanooga factory. A version of the car has also been on sale in China, assembled by SAIC in Shanghai, the company said.
VW is building its Atlas SUV in Tennessee and next year will begin production of its electric ID.4 SUV at the U.S. plant.
According to Reuters, More than 1.76 million Passat, Dasher and Quantum models have been sold in the United States since 1974.
Many automakers in the United States have dramatically cut back on car production and sales in recent years in favor of larger utility vehicles.
Ford Motor Co in 2018 announced it would largely abandon the U.S. sedan market saying it would stop selling the Fiesta, Focus, Taurus and Fusion sedans, the last of which was discontinued last year.
