FRANKFURT 鈥?Volkswagen AG on Tuesday said it will launch an entry-level Jetta brand in China in the third quarter this year, as a way to capture first-time buyers in the world's largest car market, which has started to sputter. Car sales in China fell for a seventh straight month in January, the country's top auto industry association said earlier this month. A third of the Chinese car market is in a segment which is positioned below the main volume segment, where the Volkswagen brand is market leader, VW said. To capture market share in the entry-level segment, where 80 percent of customers are first-time car buyers, VW is creating the Jetta brand, the carmaker said. Chinese joint venture partner FAW Volkswagen will use Jetta to offer a limousine and two sports utility vehicles that can be bought through Jetta dealerships and mobile sales trucks in shopping malls. By the year end, there will be around 200 dealers offering cars under the Jetta brand, VW said. Jetta, the vehicle brand, will apparently have no relation to the Volkswagen Jetta car model, which was just redesigned last year. VW just debuted the Jetta GLI earlier this month at the Chicago Auto Show.
The Toyota Corolla doesn鈥檛 skimp in this way, but its engine is a dud, too. The new 2019 Corolla Hatchback gets a better engine, but the sedan remains underwhelming for 2019; its combo 1.8-liter four-cylinder and continuously variable automatic transmission drives like it needs a cup of coffee. But the Jetta S? It鈥檚 torquey and approaches something I鈥檇 call fun. Volkswagen still saves its better engine for the Golf, but the Jetta is no slouch. The engine and gearbox are responsive, and with its redesign, the Jetta rides on Volkswagen鈥檚 solid MQB platform 鈥?and that means it has solid dynamics and some handling acumen to boot. This surely doesn鈥檛 drive like a base model. There are a few surprising inclusions with the Jetta S, starting with the exterior, which features LED headlights, taillights and daytime running lights, a feature usually reserved for more expensive vehicles. It鈥檚 also got automatic headlights and a backup camera, but that鈥檚 about as far as safety features go.
Inside the Jetta, there鈥檚 a 6.5-inch color touchscreen (but the menus and graphics are basically grayscale). Bluetooth connectivity comes standard, as does Volkswagen App Connect which includes Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Charging options include a single USB port and a 12-volt charging port, both of which are located in front of the gearshift. The Jetta鈥檚 cabin is also more spacious after the redesign, the backseat especially. The last-generation model was a little stingy with the head- and legroom for backseat passengers, but both feel improved here, and tall windows all around provide excellent visibility from any seat. The most important thing you get with the VW Jetta now might not even be a feature 鈥?in fact, it鈥檚 not even part of the car. Coming out of all of that negative press from Dieselgate, Volkswagen started to offer a big warranty 鈥?like, six-years-or-72,000-miles big, including bumper-to-bumper coverage. And it comes on all models of the Volkswagen Jetta, including the base model. Here is where things get more interesting, because the new Jetta S is still a compromised vehicle. The biggest omissions come on two fronts: safety and technology.
The seats are cloth, but you can deal with that in this price range. What bugged me more was the multimedia system: Volkswagen offers a beautiful, high-resolution touchscreen on SEL and SEL Premium models, that makes the screen on the base-model unit looks old and pixelated by comparison. There鈥檚 also a lack of charging options. That single USB port and 12-volt port will have to do the heavy lifting 鈥?no extra ports in the center storage bin and no ports for backseat occupants. This is an area in which the Jetta generally lags, as even the top-level SEL Premium only comes with one more USB port in the bin, but its omission is still felt on the base model. The backseat is also quite spartan with its lack of visible air vents 鈥?and on the base model, there isn鈥檛 even a fold-down armrest when the center seat isn鈥檛 in use. The 2019 Jetta S is also the only trim level of the Jetta to not get automatic forward emergency braking and blind spot warnings standard, features that come as such on the other trim levels.
The SEL and SEL Premium also add adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist, but those features aren鈥檛 offered on any of the other of the three trim levels (S, SE and R-Line). To start with, this version of the new Jetta S isn鈥檛 the one I would get. 450), which includes automatic forward emergency braking and blind spot monitors; those are features that pay for themselves with one avoided fender bender. Beyond that, I think the Jetta S offers pretty solid value, especially when you put it up against the rest of the Jetta lineup. It would be different if the higher trim levels 鈥?especially the SE and the R-Line, which sit right above the S 鈥?were better outfitted. Both the SE and R-Line have the same disappointing multimedia screen that鈥檚 lacking connectivity options and charge ports. 25,310 price tag to get the good screen, as well as Volkswagen鈥檚 digital cockpit, which sticks a 10.25-inch display into the instrument panel. 3,000 between the S and R-Line.
