In 1974 Volkswagen had to come out with a car to replace the Beetle, and as a result, the Dasher was born, a car whose goal was to find a fine balance between cost and features. Unfortunately, the Dasher really didn’t find a home in the market and lost in sales to Datsun and Honda. The Dasher was based off the Audi B1 platform used for the Audi Fox, but although the Audi Fox generated good sales with its luxury feel, it did not translate to the Dasher. Sales dropped from 37,000 in 1974 to 20,000 the following years.
After over a decade of trying to find its groove, Volkswagen finally built the Passat in 1990 for the American market. By the end of that year, Volkswagen sold nearly 18,000 Passats and the flagship sedan finally had found its home.
In order to relive the history of the Passat, Volkswagen has made a clever infographic highlighting Passat pricing over the years while still accounting for inflation. Since the pricing of the Passat has been a big selling point in the U.S. market, it's interesting to see how VW has made sure to stay in an affordable realm.