Other than officially dropping the Passat nameplate, very little has changed for the 2012 Volkswagen CC, which by the way, stands for Comfort Coupe. The interior has been slightly revised to include an analog clock and some wood grain accents in the upper trim levels. The 2012 CC is essentially still a Passat with a body transplant, the frame, engine and dashboard are all Passat. However, the body style works much better on the CC, although it takes away from some of the cabin space, allowing only two people of short stature to be comfortable in the backseat as opposed to the Passat that can fit three average height adults comfortably. While most people are not trying to set any records for the amount of people they can fit in their car, in some cases it would be nice to have the extra passenger room, but it seems to be a beneficial trade off to have a more stylish CC than a roomier Passat. For the 2012 CC, you have a choice of two variants the 125TDI and the V6FSI.
Under the bonnet is an improvement in the 2012 CC as well, as it is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel four-cylinder engine standard and a 3.6-liter V6 petrol engine as an option. The 2.0-liter is one of the best engines around, combining fuel economy with a good amount of acceleration. The standard 2.0-liter diesel has a max power of 125kW with a fuel economy of 5.7L/100km. The optional 3.6L FSI petrol engine produces around 220kW and its fuel economy is around 9.7L/100km.
The interior of the 2012 CC is decidedly geared toward the front seat passengers. The sloping roofline makes the back seat just a little uncomfortable for any adult slightly taller than average, that is unless you are accustomed to tilting your head, and then you will be just fine. The middle seat has also been eliminated in the back seat and replaced with a bin, cup holders and flip down armrest. Perhaps this is to patronize the rear seat passengers that are over the height limit. If they complain, you can also console them by pointing out the cup holders and armrests. (There is nothing like a little compromise to make up for a slight design flaw.) Other than the addition of some wood grain trim in some models, the interior remains the same as last year. VW does however provide quite a number of safety features as standard such as eight airbags, ABS, brake assist and a 4Motion all-wheel drive system.
To own a 2012 CC, you are going to have to put up a bit of money as the 125TDI well equipped is going to set you back about $60,630 and the V6 FSI is around $71,952. Considering a Mercedes will cost you upwards of $40,000 more for a similar style vehicle with a Mercedes nameplate, overall, it sounds like a good price.
So in short, Volkswagen took a Passat added a CC to the name then dropped the Passat name and are now just calling it a CC. That seems to be the biggest change for 2012, but the more stylish CC with one of the best standard engines you can buy seems to be a good idea. They are reasonably priced, loaded with options and are guaranteed to give BMW and Mercedes a bit of a challenge. As long as you do not plan to try to fit more than three passengers or anyone taller than average in the back seat, the CC is a good choice. At least there are cup holders in the back seat.
