The country鈥檚 farming communities have accused the manufacturer of 鈥渁rbitrarily鈥?provoking a drought in the central state of Puebla, where Volkswagen operates its largest car factory outside of Germany. 3.7 million) in compensation from the automaker. VW had installed hail cannons at the plant, which fire shockwaves into the atmosphere to prevent the formation of ice stones that had been damaging finished vehicles parked outside its facility. The automaker has officially been granted permission to use hail cannons, although the technology still lacks scientific evidence supporting its efficiency. According to farmers, VW鈥檚 use of hail cannons was causing a drought that has made them lose 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of crops. VW鈥檚 devices not only disperse hail storms, but all precipitation that has occurred since May (the beginning of the rainy season in Mexico), says Gerardo Perez, a farmers鈥?representative in the area. 鈥淲ith these actions, Volkswagen de Mexico expresses its commitment to maintain sustainable relationships with its stakeholders: environment, neighboring communities and authorities,鈥?VW spokesman added. Puebla plant is Volkswagen鈥檚 largest outside Germany, employing 15,000 people who produce more than 450,000 vehicles a year. In June and August, farmers staged protests and blocked access to the plant, saying the company could take other measures to protect its cars.
The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta, now the seventh generation of the compact sedan, is also the first to make use of VW鈥檚 modular MQB platform. As always, that journey starts with the eyes. Many will look at the crisply minimal shape of the Jetta with a sigh of relief, brought on by the current era of challenging designs for mass-market cars. The Civic, for all that I dig its origami, isn鈥檛 sheet metal that everyone finds lovely. This VW sedan, meanwhile, with its strong character line, uncluttered bodyside, and sharply designed lighting elements, is handsomely conservative. There鈥檚 a bit of a big face going on here, but hardly on the level of whichever LSD-microdosing designer is now running Toyota. I drove the middle-trim R-Line Jetta for most of the day, and I also find this version of the VW the most fetching. The dark grille and mirror caps help sport the car up a little, and the 17-inch wheels - while still looking slightly small - are my favorite design of the rolling stock on offer. The top SEL- trimmed cars get more of a polished, chrome-y look, which does a passable impression of a low-rent Audi.
On the inside, the difference in trim marks out haves and have-nots more starkly. The design of the dash, and common materials are all sharp, Germanic, and more than acceptable. It鈥檚 also more cavernous inside than ever before. The overall length of the car is up 1.7 inches, and the wheelbase increased by 1.3 inches, with most of these increases dedicated to freeing up the cabin. By the tape, VW has increased front- and rear-seat space in just about every dimension; in the real world it means that it鈥檚 possible for me, at six-feet and five-inches, to "sit behind myself" 鈥?albeit rather uncomfortably. Four standard five-foot, nine-inch adults should have plenty of room. Trunk space isn鈥檛 as generous as you鈥檇 find in Civic, Elantra, Forte, or a few others in the segment, but at 14.1 cubic feet, with standard 60/40 split folding seats, it鈥檚 still flexible enough for most day-to-day needs. Meanwhile, the driving experience is colored with only subtle variation from trim to trim.
At launch all Jettas come with a turbocharged 1.4-liter inline-four-cylinder engine under the hood, replete with a healthy 184 pound-feet of torque, and a slightly disappointing 147 horsepower. On the base Jetta S, you can opt to manage that output with a six-speed manual transmission, but most of these cars will be sold with a very smooth, don鈥檛-call-me-DSG, eight-speed automatic. That horsepower figure is low when compared to other turbocharged compact sedans from Honda, Nissan, and Chevy (to name a few), but the torque is at or near the top of the class. So, even with a curb weight just a little shy of 3,000 pounds, the Jetta feels quick-enough where it counts: merging, passing, and accelerating smoothly. Those looking for more thrills should wait for the upcoming Jetta GLI. The Jetta鈥檚 feeling on the road is a degree more planted and solid than some other compact sedans. The car just rides well, with a well-damped suspension and excellent in-cabin noise control, even up to speeds around 80 mph. Our drive route was hardly a handling course, but the Volkswagen did offer well-weighted steering with decent feel during cornering.
The Jetta doesn鈥檛 rotate quite so quickly as its Honda and Mazda counterparts, but the ride-handling balance is nevertheless superb. On hard corner exits I was benefiting, too, from the R-Design鈥檚 one actual nod to performance, the addition of the XDS torque-vectoring differential, as seen in the GTI. Strangely, the R-Design package does not offer the same Sport mode found in the SEL / SEL Premium trims鈥?a packaging omission that even the VW pros on hand had a hard time explaining to me. Suffice it to say the diff is great at cleaning up corner exits for this car, though most owners will opt for R-Design for the visuals rather than the handling improvement, if I had to guess. 850 for destination and delivery), and aggressive pricing versus content at nearly every trim. The compact sedan segment may be bleeding sales to small SUVs, but for those buyers still looking for good value, nice dynamics, and excellent fuel economy, alternatives to King Civic are now stronger than ever.
