The Best Super Bowl Commercial: Volkswagen’s Passat Darth Vader, The Force

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The spot features a pint-sized Darth Vader who uses the Force when he discovers the all-new 2012 Passat in the driveway. It leverages humor and the unforgettable Star Wars™ score.

On January 9, 2011, Volkswagen announced that the New Midsize Sedan (NMS) being built in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the North American market would be named the Passat. The Volkswagen Passat is a large family car built by Volkswagen Passenger Cars that has gone through six design generations since 1973.

The Passat will also be built in China by Shanghai-VW in 2011.

The Volkswagen Passat NMS vehicle was developed separately from the contemporary European-market B7 Passat and is designed specifically for North America and China — not exported to Europe.

The B6 Passat was heavily facelifted by Klaus Bischoff and Italian car designer Walter de Silva, and was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in September 2010. The ‘B7’ the car is not a major update to the ‘B6’. The change involves a facelift that resulted in every external body panel being changed, except for the roof and glasshouse. The most noticeable change is to the grille and headights, which are similar to the style of the Mk3 Scirocco.