Volkswagen, a Gray customer, hosted its media launch of the brand-new Passat last week. Consumers will be introduced to the car this summer through reports in car magazines and on automotive websites.

Check out these interesting facts from a recent MSNBC article regarding the media launch:

• The diesel-powered TDI version of the Passat gets 43 miles per gallon of fuel in highway driving and has a cruising range of almost 800 miles. You could fill up in Chattanooga and drive to Miami on a single tank.
• The assembly line at the VW Chattanooga plant is now turning out about 60 Passats a day. That number is expected to rise to 233 daily by the end of June.
• As a quality-control measure, the Passat assembly line shuts down if robots detect body-panel assembly is off by more than 1.2 millimeters, about the thickness of a dime.
• The larger, American-made Passat will not be sold in Europe, where company officials believe it would be considered too big for popular tastes.

Chattanooga Passat shown at the New York Auto Show