“NEW business class in a designer suit”.

The English is slightly stilted but the meaning is clear – Volkswagen thinks the eighth-generation new Passat combines all the practicality that company car drivers have always looked for in the company’s big saloons and estates, combined with a new emphasis on style.

There’s a lot riding on the new model – 22 million cars wearing a Passat badge have been sold over eight model generations since 1973, and in 2013, the Passat was Volkswagen’s best-selling car worldwide, with 1.1 million finding customers all around the world, although there are significant differences between the versions sold in Europe, China and North America.