The first 2012 Volkswagen Passat was produced at the Volkswagen Chattanooga, TN plant in April of 2011 and in May VW officially started mass production of their vehicles. Volkswagen celebrating the creation of their 50,000^th vehicle built is an impressive accomplishment. The Passat was named as the "2012 Car of the Year ®" by Motor Trend and a "Top Safety Pick" by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Fletcher Jones Volkswagen is very proud…

I cycled in and arrived first at the wrong entrance to McCormick Place. "Am I at the right place for the auto show?" I asked a security guard. He looked me over an asked "do you have a delivery" as he scanned my bike helmet and messenger bag. Nope, "I have a press pass" I grinned. He was nice enough to look past my appearance and direct me to the main convention space. Once inside I will admit I felt a bit under-dressed. It was two days before the public opening of the largest auto show in the world and…

Last year, Super Bowl watchers got a good laugh out of "The Force" - the new 2012 Volkswagen Passat ad. The German automaker successfully spoofed Star Wars in a way that nearly everyone in the world could enjoy, and for proof look no further than the ad's nearly 50 million hits on Youtube.

So how does Volkswagen follow up that kind of smash hit? That's the question everyone was asking, including us here at…