The Volkswagen Passat is a family car built by Volkswagen through six design generations since 1973. Falling between the Golf/Jetta and Phaeton in the current Volkswagen line-up, the Passat has been badged variously as Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar and Carat. Notably, Volkswagen has announced the forthcoming Passat CC, a 4-door "coupé" version of the Passat.

The name 'Passat derives from the German word for trade wind. The Passat falls in the middle of the sedan/saloon market segment and was critical to Volkswagen on its introduction in 1973, as the sales of the aging Beetle were declining, and larger air-cooled rear-engined models like the Volkswagen Type 3 and 411 and 412 based on older technology were also failing to take hold in the market.[citation needed] Following the Volkswagen Group's acquisition of Audi in 1964, Volkswagen used new engineering expertise to develop a modern front-wheel drive car with a water-cooled engine, and thus the Passat and Golf (the latter being introduced in 1974) were the first of a new generation of Volkswagens. The first Passat was developed directly from the Audi 80/Fox and until 2005 the two shared a history.