EAST HADDAM, Conn. -- Sayonara, Camry. Wilkommen, Passat.
For the first time in 16 years, the Toyota Camry has been beaten for the top spot in the widely watched annual ranking of family sedans by Consumer Reports magazine. The No. 1 ranking for Volkswagen's midsize model was a sign that the German automaker is building on the success of its new Beetle model to shake off years of dreary auto sales in the U.S. market."We think the Passat was just as significant a car as the new Beetle for us because it proves that Volkswagen can compete in that midsized family car market," VW spokesman Tony Fouladpour said.
VW had trouble competing at all in the United States until recently.
In 1993 VW sold fewer than 50,000 cars in the United States, fewer than any year since 1956. But the numbers have been building since then. Last year the automaker sold 219,679 cars here, making 1998 the company's best year since 1981.
The Passat, which took off after being completely redesigned for the fall of 1997, helped make that happen. VW sold nearly 40,000 Passats last year, an increase of 164 percent over 1997. The model was first introduced in the United States in the early 1990s.
The reintroduction of the Beetle, expected to spur backlogs for months following its well-received introduction, has helped propel the company further forward.
The Passat actually outperformed the Camry in Consumer Reports' testing for its 1998 auto edition, but the magazine declined to give it the top ranking then because testers at the magazine's Connecticut test track said the car was too young to gauge reliability. The Camry retains a strong rating, nudged out by Passat "by a nose," Consumer Reports said.
"They're getting better," said David Champion, Consumer Reports' director of auto testing, during a break from demonstrations of several cars featured in the magazine due to reach consumers Wednesday. "Most of the cars are becoming very well-rounded."