After spending months calling the car that will replace the Passat the NMS (for New Midsized Sedan), Volkswagen has announced that the car will be called the Passat after all. The 2012 Passat will follow the trend that VW has set for the US market and will be bigger than the generation it is replacing. They tell us that the sticker price will also be below $20,000. At that price it is unlikely that much more than the seats will come as standard.

The base model will get a naturally-aspirated version of the 2.5-liter five-cylinder mill that VW is finding homes for throughout their range. There is also a 2.0 TDI for Volkswagen's many devoted diesel fans, and a 3.5-liter V6 which puts out 280 horsepower. VW has also announced that the Passat that will be sold in the US will also be built here, specifically in Chattanooga, Tennessee.