Volkswagen Jetta
Debut: 2010 |
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Volkswagen group has a big plan: it aims to replace Toyota as the world's number one car maker by 2018. To achieve this, it has to increase its sales from last year's 6.3 million units to 10 million units. How can it find the extra 3.7 million units ? Undoubtedly, emerging markets like China and Brazil will be most significant, but North America can also contribute a lot. Last year, Volkswagen sold 213,000 cars in the USA. While that figure seems not bad, it is actually way lower than its key rivals - Toyota sold 1.77 million cars in the same year; Honda sold 1.15 million units; Both Nissan and Hyundai group did more than 700,000 units. More embarrassing, even BMW and Mercedes sold about the same amount as the mainstream German brand, so there is a lot of room for improvement. Volkswagen aims to triple its US sales by 2018. In short term, it wants to boost sales to the level of 400,000-450,000 units by 2012-2013. If you were the sales boss of VW America, what would you say ? You would argue that you are not given the right products to do so. While the current Jetta and Passat have plenty of admirers for their superior build quality, refinement and dynamics, they are just too expensive to be popular in the USA. American motorists want cars to be roomy, well equipped yet cheap to buy. If Volkswagen want to achieve sales comparable to Corolla / Civic and Camry / Accord, it has to abandon its premium image and go mainstream. The future Jetta and Passat have to be significantly cheaper to produce yet offer more space than the current cars. Just when you thought this must be a good excuse not to follow the sales target, Wolfsburg HQ said, "Alright, I will give you the right cars. Both the future Jetta and American Passat will be designed specially for your market. They will be bigger and cheaper and locally produced. No more excuse please."
So here comes the new Jetta Mk6. For the first time in its history, it is no longer a Golf plus a boot but a standalone model. Key difference to its stablemate is a 73 mm longer wheelbase (2651 mm vs 2578 mm) which translates to a remarkable 67 mm more rear seat legroom, so four six-footers will be happy to travel in this car. Not so great is the new styling. Although cutting ties with Golf liberates its design and enabling a more coherent proportion than the previous Jetta, the new nose and tail look quite bland, lacking the character of the old car. The unique sense of high build quality has also disappeared. If that is what Volkswagen America aim to rival Corolla and Civic, then we must say it is disappointing. In fact, to match the low prices of its Japanese rivals - base price of new Jetta is just under US$16,000 - Volkswagen committed a lot more sins. It replaced the sophisticated multi-link rear suspensions with a much cheaper torsion beam. Power steering is reverted to pure hydraulic assistance. It degraded the interior plastics and switch gears, so you will find much the same shinny hard plastic dashboard and downmarket switch gears as in its Japanese rivals. The seats are adjusted manually. The center console is simplified and the navigation screen is small. It has lost the smell of luxury. However, the parts are still well screwed together, and the general lack of wind and road noise still speak of a German car.
Further cost saving can be found under the bonnet. To make the US$16,000 entry-level price possible, Volkswagen shamelessly resurrected the old 115hp 2.0-liter 8V engine from Beetle. In fact, its history can be traced back to the 1991 Golf Mk3, and I remember it was already criticized for outdated back then. In the new car, its lack of punch and refinement is even more apparent. More sales are likely to go to the mid-trim 170hp 2.5-liter 20V straight-five. It is carried over from the outgoing Jetta, so hardly state of the art. Volkswagen found the larger and unsophisticated engine is actually cheaper to produce than its small and efficient TSI engines, so let the customers pay higher fuel bills for the lower purchase price. This Jetta takes about 8.5 seconds to go from 0-60, neither good nor bad, or about the same pace as the comparable Corolla and Civic. The last two engines are the the most expensive but also the best: 140hp 2.0TDI diesel and 200hp 2.0 TSI petrol. The former is torquey, refined and frugal, hence our pick of the range. The latter is reserved for the hottest GLI model, which is also the only new Jetta retaining multi-link rear suspensions. For transmission, Volkswagen offers the familiar 5-speed manual, 6-speed manual and 6-speed DSG for your selection.
On the road, the degraded Jetta still handles and rides better than Corolla and Civic. Its European-style suspension tuning leads to good body control and damping. Ride is generally smooth and quiet. However, on poor surfaces the torsion-beam suspension does generate more shocks and noise than the outgoing Jetta (or Golf). The cheap hydraulic power steering delivers little feel on the straight ahead. Furthermore, the electronic stability control is intrusive, and it can't be switched off. Overall, the new Jetta does not deliver the same driving fun as the old car, neither can it match Golf and Mazda 3. Seeing the downgraded dynamics, refinement, build quality and even style, existing American fans may be disappointed with the new Jetta. Ironically, that's the price it pays for going mainstream. Will it succeed ? I am not sure. What I am certain is it will inevitably hurt the premium image Volkswagen has been renowned for. That doesn't seem wise to me. |
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| The above report was last updated on 31 Oct 2010. All Rights Reserved. |
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 Jetta |
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| Performance
tested by: *C&D, **MT |
Copyright©
1997-2010
by Mark Wan @ AutoZine