The All New Jetta

This morning, Volkswagen unveiled the all-new 2011 Jetta sedan at an event in Times Square in New York. The new Jetta sedan will play an important part in Volkswagen's plan to grow American sales to 800,000 units a year by 2018.

The Jetta has long been Vollkswagen's best selling model in the U.S. market where sedans have been preferred to hatchbacks like VW's own Golf. Ever since the original Jetta was introduced in the early-1980s, it has basically been a Golf/Rabbit with a trunk and has always shared its wheelbase with the hatchback.

In order to make the Jetta more competitive with new C-segment models like the Chevrolet Cruze and Ford Focus, Volkswagen has diverged from the Golf platform with a 2.76 inch longer wheelbase and 3.54 inch longer overall length.  While the Jetta has always been praised for its dynamic capabilities and high quality interior appointments, the interior has been considered cramped. This new model should address that.

The new interior should retain the excellent fit and finish of all recent Volkswagens. On the outside the Jetta inherits the horizontal themed front fascia seen on other recent VWs including the 2010 Golf and 2011 Touareg.  The rest of the body takes its design theme from the NCC concept that was shown at the Detroit Auto Show last January.

In late 2008, the Jetta TDI launched with the first affordable, modern clean diesel engine at an affordable price. That 140 horsepower 2.0-liter diesel has proven very popular accounting for some 40 percent of all Jetta sales since its debut. The Jetta TDI is rated at 31 mpg city and 42 mpg on the highway.  The diesel carries over for 2011 as does the current base engine, a 2.5-liter inline-five with 170 hp. At the top end, a 200 hp turbocharged and direct-injected 2.0-liter will power the Jetta GLI and a 115 hp engine will anchor the base Jetta. 

The new Jetta sedan goes on sale in the U.S. this fall with a base price starting at $15,995.