The all-new Volkswagen Passat will come top in the company car battle, says independent experts CAP Automotive.

According to CAP, the Passat will beat off competition from the likes of the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Ford Mondeo and Mercedes C Class, with its premium car quality and mainstream price tag.

Key to success in the hotly contested sector is company car chooser attraction and competitive depreciation to enable fleets to offer the best possible contract hire rates and the all new Passat wins on both counts.

CAP’s future used car value forecasting experts say new Passat is expected to lose just over £13,400 over three years, compared with £15,880 for the equivalent Mercedes C-Class, £16,970 for the Audi A4 and £17,445 for the BMW 3 Series.

CAP’s senior forecasting editor Dylan Setterfield said: “People might reasonably assume that a Volkswagen would generally be worth less as a used car than the equivalent models from more traditionally premium image manufacturers, like Audi and BMW.

“In reality, though, we are anticipating the new Passat to be worth £10,900 in the trade market, after three years, which is £325 more than our forecast for the Audi A4 and £725 above the BMW 3 Series.

“Volkswagen has kept to their ethos of evolution rather than revolution with the new Passat. Even though everything has changed under the skin, there’ll be no question of unsettling the existing Passat fan because the outward changes remain quite subtle.

“It’s fair to say that this new model will keep the loyal Passat chooser happy while tempting those drivers who want a premium car without the premium new price tag to try a Volkswagen for the first time.”