Volkswagen has taken the wraps off its new Jetta at the ongoing Detroit motor show, which features sharper design cues and a new eight-speed automatic transmission.
The sedan, which is based on the seventh-gen Golf, slots below the Passat in Volkswagen’s US range. It is 43mm longer than the previous model at 4,687mm, and 35mm wider at 1,813mm. Despite the increase in length, the overhangs are 10mm and 18mm shorter at the front and rear, respectively, suggesting more space on the inside.
In terms of design, the exteriors mimic the larger Passat while the interiors are nearly identical to those found on the Euro-spec Golf. The sedan also now comes with VW’s latest MIB instrument cluster, a 10.2-inch Active Info Display, as well as a new dashboard-mounted touchscreen infotainment system, which is Mirrorlink, Apple Carplay and Android Auto compatible.
Under the hood, the new Jetta is powered by a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine that produces 150hp and 250Nm of peak torque, and sends power to the front wheels via either the older six-speed manual gearbox or the new, eight-speed automatic.
The older, sixth-gen Jetta was sold in India until 2017 but was discontinued due to slow sales and the increasing demand for SUVs. As we had reported earlier, the seventh-gen model is unlikely to come to India as VW is not expected to produce the sedan for right-hand-drive markets like South Africa, India and the UK.
Uday Singh
Lenny D'sa
Dipan Sur
Glenn Noronha
