It was a clear-cut decision: more than 320,000 votes were counted in the ADAC (General German Automobile Association) reader's choice awards for the "Gelber Engel 2006" prize. There were 54 models to choose from in the "Cars" category. In the end, the winner was the Volkswagen Passat.

The "Gelber Engel" prize awarded by the ADAC is one of the most reputable prizes in the automotive industry (Gelber Engel = Yellow Angel, an endearing term in Germany for ADAC road patrols due to the colour of their vehicles). Readers of the "ADAC Motorwelt" (ADAC member magazine), visitors to the ADAC website and, for the first time, visitors to the Frankfurt International Motor Show 2005 were asked to select Germany's favourite car for 2006. The contenders were all new cars that had appeared on the market since October 2004 and had been supplied to dealers the following year.

In the ratings, the Passat launched in March 2005 (Variant Estate: August 2005) came out as clear winner over its competitors. Dr Wolfgang Bernhard, Chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand, received the prize at a ceremony in Munich attended by about 400 guests from politics and industry on Thursday. He said, "The "Gelber Engel" prize is an ADAC award that enjoys a high degree of credibility among consumers. If over 320,000 car fans vote and help the Passat to win, this fills us with pride! It is another great source of motivation for our employees!“

The aim of the "Gelber Engel" is to provide qualified guidance for excellent makes and innovations. The fact that the new Passat enjoys such high esteem in the eyes of consumers is also reflected by the number of new car registrations recorded by the Federal Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Drivers in 2005. Within a few months of its launch, the new Passat had established itself at the top of the mid-class segment, with a total of 98,136 new registrations and a market share of 17.3 percent (December: 11,705 cars and a market share of 26.7 percent).

Prizeworthy – the new Passat:
The Passat and the Passat Estate have already received a number of coveted prizes at home and abroad since the new models were launched in March and August 2005 respectively. Among them were the "Goldenes Lenkrad 2005" (golden steering wheel) by "Bild am Sonntag" and "Topauto 2006" (Passat Estate) by the Motor-Informations-Dienst (mid) (Motor Vehicle Information Service). In the Baltic, the Passat has already been chosen "Car Of The Year" in Latvia and Lithuania.

The new Passat will arrive in Australia during 2006.