Serious questions remain, however, about Volkswagen's ability to service America properly, a market once owned by the German firm but which now is a few pencil scratches on the company's international ledgers. VW's American and Canadian operations are being merged, with a severe reduction in the North American work force. Can this leaner, stripped-down Volkswagen presence compete against its rivals effectively?
What's clear is that VW is building the kinds of cars that should by all rights be ending up in someone's garage and not in a holding pen at the port. The Passat Wagon is such a car.