VW tries value edition Passat LE to revive interest

Volkswagen is using a proven tactic to revive flagging interest in its Passat midsize sedan: a special edition.

This version of the 2015 Passat is called LE, for Limited Edition, a value-oriented model that VW says has $2,755 more equipment that the S model but is priced only $1,555 more.

It replaces the Wolfsburg and SE models and is en route to dealers now, VW says.

Drivetrain is the new-design, EA288 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine rated 170 horsepower, 184 ponds-feet or torque, and six-speed automatic transmission.

LE standard features that aren't on the S:

•Heated front seats

•Keyless entry

•17-inch-diameter allow wheels

•Touchscreen-controlled radio with SiriusXM satellite capability.

•Fog lights

•Eight-way power driver's seat.

•Leather covering on the steering wheel, shifter and parking brake.

Honda has used the approach over decades on its Accord. When a car is well into its life-cycle, and getting perhaps too familiar to shoppers, sales typically slump.

Some automakers simply offer bigger discounts. Honda has preferred to add some premium features to low- or mid-level models, boost the price modestly, and present it as a value-oriented special edition.

Passat sales the first two months this year are down 4.7%, while the overall new-vehicle market is up 9.2%. Total VW sales the first two months were down 2.8% from the year-ago period.

For all of 2014, VW total U.S. sales were down 10% in a market up 5.9%, according to Autodata.

VW redesigned the Passat and launched it in the U.S. in 2011 as a 2012 model. Sales rocketed. Little wonder: It was much larger than its tight-fitting predecessor, priced $7,180 less and had a smooth, if bland, look instead of the previous model's distinctive appearance that wasn't universally popular in the U.S.

VW also boosted the American appeal by manufacturing the new Passat at a built-from-scratch factory in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The current-generation Passat, then, is perhaps halfway through its life-cycle, so could use a new marketing hook.

VW also has been suffering from slow sales for months, while other makers generally are reporting healthy gains.

Partly, VW is suffering from a truck gap -- it has only two SUVs, neither of them new, at a time when that's what buyers are choosing. Replacements for the Tiguan two-row SUV and the larger Touareg are due, but it looks like next year is as soon as you'll see them. Tiguan and Touareg were just 9% of VW's total U.S. sales last year, vs. 15.7% SUVs for all U.S. sales.

Also, shoppers seem to be gravitating toward the size extremes -- city-ute mini-SUVs and three-row family-size models -- and neither of VW's are in those categories.

VW hadn't had a truly new car since the 2012 Passat until last spring, when it finally put its redesigned, seventh-generation Golf subcompact on sale here, rolling out the versions over months so the automaker's had a continuing stream of "new" to advertise.

That's boosted Golf sales dramatically, but in the U.S., the small Golf hatchback doesn't have the overwhelming draw that it does worldwide -- it's VW's best-seller globally -- so a big jump in Golf sales still is only a little help to VW's overall U.S. tally.

Last year, Golf sales were just 9.2% of the VW brand's total. Biggest-seller in the U.s. is the Jetta sedan, 38.5% of the total last year. Passat's No. 2 at 26.3%.