The all-new Jetta raises the bar in the compact sedan class, with bold design, innovative technology features, and a transferable, 6-year/72,000-mile New Vehicle Limited Warranty
- Jetta is now based off the award-winning MQB architecture
- Sleek coupe-like exterior design features shorter overhangs and a bold new face
- Upscale driver-centric interior features premium materials and modern design
- 1.4-liter TSI engine is paired with six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmissions
- Aluminum-alloy wheels, App-Connect and full LED lighting are standard
- Available driver assistance technology includes: Front Assist, Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Traffic Alert, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Assist, and Light Assist
- Available premium features include: Volkswagen Digital Cockpit, 10-color ambient lighting, panoramic sunroof, heated and ventilated leather seats, and 400-watt BeatsAudio® system
- The People First Warranty, with 6-years/72,000-mile (whichever occurs first) coverage
- Pricing starts at $18,545, less than the outgoing model
Detroit, Mich. – Today, Volkswagen of America, Inc., unveiled the all-new 2019 Jetta at the North American International Auto Show. The Jetta is one of the world’s most successful sedans, with more than 17 million models sold worldwide since it was introduced in 1979: more than 3.2 million of those vehicles have been sold in the United States. Now based off the award-winning MQB platform, the 2019 Jetta offers bolder design, more interior space than the outgoing model and new technology. Despite all the additional premium features and technology, the all-new 2019 Jetta pricing starts at $18,545, less than the outgoing base model.
“The Jetta has long been Volkswagen’s best-selling vehicle in the United States,” said Hinrich J. Woebcken, CEO of the North American Region, Volkswagen, “and we expect that this all-new car will continue to resonate with buyers in the compact sedan class. With its combination of great technology, fuel-efficient drivetrains, sporty styling, upscale interior and amenities, and fun-to-drive nature, we expect that the Jetta will make a huge splash in the compact sedan market when it goes on sale.”
The Jetta is based on Volkswagen’s Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) architecture. Compared with the current car, the new Jetta grows outside in every direction. It offers a longer wheelbase—105.7 inches compared to 104.4 inches—with shorter overhangs, and is longer, wider and taller than the outgoing model. The increased exterior proportions add up to more interior space than the previous car as well.
Outside, the all-new Jetta marks an evolution in Volkswagen’s clean and timeless design DNA, with modern lines and a refined appearance. The combination of large front grille and sharper lines exudes a bold character, while the addition of more chrome and standard LED lighting lend a premium feel. A fast-sloping roof line creates a sportier, coupe-like profile without compromising the usability of the rear seat.
Inside, the Jetta’s fully redesigned interior combines high-tech features with everyday usability and refined fit and finish. High quality soft-touch materials throughout and new trapezoidal design elements give the vehicle an upscale, yet modern feel. The 2019 Jetta sports new fabric colors and designs for the seats and door trim as well as optional 10-color customizable wrap-around ambient lighting. To keep occupants comfortable, Jetta will offer available heated and ventilated front seats, power driver’s seat with memory functionality, leather seating surfaces, and dual-zone Climatronic® automatic climate control. A new center storage console is 5-liters—large enough to fit a standard iPad.
The driver-oriented cockpit features an infotainment screen placed high in the dashboard, to make all vehicle information easily accessible to the driver. Every Jetta offers standard Driver Personalization with up to four driver settings. Dependent on trim, customizable features include: driver seat memory, driver assistance system preferences, temperature, Volkswagen Digital Cockpit arrangement (if equipped), ambient lighting color, radio presets, navigation view, and more.
Jetta SEL and SEL Premium models feature a standard Volkswagen Digital Cockpit display, offering drivers a reconfigurable display of key data and the ability to position navigation data front and center for easy viewing. The available Volkswagen Car-Net® system provides a suite of connected vehicle services, including standard App-Connect technology that offers compatible smartphone integration with the three major platforms—Apple CarPlay™, Android Auto™ and MirrorLink®. The new Jetta is the first Volkswagen in the U.S. to offer an available 400-watt BeatsAudio® system.
The Jetta’s technology upgrades extend beyond the cabin to include a comprehensive suite of available driver assistance technology. A rearview camera comes standard and available features include: Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking (Front Assist); Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Traffic Alert; Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), upgraded for use in stop and go traffic; High Beam Control (Light Assist); and Lane Departure Warning (Lane Assist), which actively helps the driver steer the car back into its lane should the vehicle start drifting into another lane without using the turn signal.
In addition, the 2019 Jetta offers a combination of both passive and active safety systems that are engineered to meet or exceed current crash regulations. These systems include the class exclusive Automatic Post-Collision Braking System.
The new Jetta will continue to be powered by Volkswagen’s 1.4-liter turbocharged and direct-injection TSI® engine, making 147 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, the highest in the compact sedan class. The power is taken to the front wheels via a new standard six-speed manual transmission, with an eight-speed automatic transmission optional on the base model and standard on higher trims. Automatic transmission models come standard with a Start/Stop system designed to improve fuel efficiency. This technology stops the engine during idle when the brake pedal is held (such as when waiting at a stop light). When the brake pedal is released, the engine restarts.
Every Jetta model will come with the People First Warranty, America’s best bumper-to-bumper new vehicle limited warranty. The warranty provides coverage for six-years or 72,000-miles (whichever occurs first), and the warranty can be transferred to subsequent owners throughout the remainder of its duration.
The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta will be available in S, SE, SEL, and SEL Premium trim levels and is expected to arrive at U.S. Volkswagen dealers in the second quarter of 2018. An R-Line trim will join the lineup at launch and features sportier styling, exclusive interior and exterior design elements, R-Line badging, and the XDS® electronic differential.
REDEFINES COMPACT SEDAN DESIGN FOR THE VOLKSWAGEN BRAND
MQB platform allows more dynamic proportions, progressive design and improved interior space
Herndon, VA — The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta, revealed last month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, marks an important step in the history of Volkswagen’s best-selling model. The seventh-generation car moves to the award-winning MQB platform, which allowed the design team to redefine the Jetta with more dynamic proportions, a more modern design, and improved interior space compared to the previous generation.
“The Jetta is such an iconic product,” says Klaus Bischoff, Head of Volkswagen Design. “We wanted to come up with something totally new. It was essential to give this product more prestige, more sportiness, a totally new proportion.”
Working with the flexible MQB platform allowed the designers to reshape the body, creating a longer wheelbase, wider track, and bigger wheels. While the larger proportions allow more interior space, a shorter front overhang and fast-sloping rear roofline translate into a coupe-like profile. Dynamic lines and taut surfaces combine with the new silhouette to give Jetta a look that’s at once elegant, yet athletic.
The front end design, with its emphasis of horizontal lines, at once identifies the new Jetta as a Volkswagen. Specific to the model is the distinctive unit formed by the radiator grille and the standard LED headlights. The trapezoidal grille is composed of four chrome bars, two of which flow into the headlight housings where the LEDs pick up the lines and connect them for a wrap-around effect.
“It was essential to give Jetta a strong face,” says Bischoff. “The combination of headlight and grille into one shape gives the front a very wide look, but the grille is also very high and deeply carved—it stands proud. It’s totally new for Jetta to have such a powerful expression.”
The car’s silhouette is marked by its taut surfaces and a long, extended side window. The coupe-like impression of the Jetta is reinforced by an offset roofline known as a ‘phase’—a narrow strip that runs parallel to the actual roofline and into the C-pillar—which visually reduces the car’s height. Beneath the shoulder, on the level of the door handles, there is a precisely carved character line that runs as an undercut. Its shadow surface tapers toward the rear, slightly arrow-shaped. The wheelarches and side sills also form a powerful unit with their muscular design. The side sills here are marked by an integrated light line, which continues into the rear body.
“What’s going to call attention from the first glance is the sculpted body side and the strong shoulder line that runs from the taillight to the driver door,” says Marco Pavone, Head of Exterior Design at Volkswagen. “The surface treatment is a lot more masculine and sporty on this car.”
The style of the rear section is defined by the arch-shaped trailing edge that extends into the shoulder section and forms the aerodynamic termination of the trunk lid. The spoiler, which is integrated into the body design, emphasizes the sedan’s impressive width. This width is also highlighted by the sharp lines of the concise LED taillight clusters. Another feature of the design is its low drag coefficient of just 0.27, depending on equipment.
Inside, Jetta’s cockpit architecture is new, with the instruments and infotainment system arranged along a driver-oriented visual and control axis. Trapezoidal design elements from the exterior are repeated in the cabin for a touch of sportiness, while premium materials bring a decidedly upscale feel.
Bischoff notes the interior design started with form following function. “HMI design is about simplicity—you should understand everything from the first gaze,” he says. “A cockpit layout needs to be perfect in ergonomics, everything in one line, everything self-explanatory.”
The upper section of Jetta’s dash panel integrates instrumentation, including the available Volkswagen Digital Cockpit, and infotainment into one trapezoidal unit. Clustering all-key functional units helps focus the driver’s attention in one area, while also creating a clean design aesthetic. Only the climate control interface is located as a separate module on the center console.
The lower part of the instrument panel has a strictly horizontal design with a fine decorative trim strip that runs beneath the cockpit, across the entire instrument panel and into the doors. Just below this sits the main line of the available 10-color ambient lighting system. Coupled with the driver profile selection feature, in Normal profile, the light is white, in the Sport profile red, and in the Eco profile blue. The driver can set any of the ten colors for the Individual mode.
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE FUEL ECONOMY
Herndon, VA (March 8,2018) – The all-new 2019 Volkswagen Jetta will arrive in dealers this summer with improved EPA-estimated fuel economy for the model: 30 miles per gallon city and 40 mpg highway, for a combined 34 mpg, two mpg higher on the combined measure than the automatic transmission version of the current generation Jetta.
Making those improvements required a dedicated approach to fuel efficiency throughout the vehicle development process, as the seventh-generation Jetta grew in most dimensions from its predecessors.
“Fuel efficiency has long been a key concern of compact sedan buyers, and we knew in designing the new Jetta we would need to push the state of the art,” said Dr. Matthias Erb, Chief Engineering Officer, North American Region, Volkswagen. “But we also knew these buyers demand good value, and our innovations will prove their value in everyday use.”
The gains begin with the Jetta’s exterior, which has been optimized for aerodynamic drag reduction. From early virtual modeling, every crease and curve of the new Jetta was studied for ways to reduce wind drag without hurting styling, interior noise or other priorities.
New to this Jetta are shutters in the front grille that close at certain speeds when the engine needs less airflow, and an “air curtain” design in the front bumper that lowers turbulence over the wheels. Underbody panels have been sculpted to help ensure suspension components don’t create unnecessary air obstructions, and the rear styling helps smooth the airflow further. All told, the refinements of the Jetta’s exterior reduce its coefficient of drag to a class-leading 0.27.
The 1.4-liter TSI® engine from the EA211 family has also been optimized for further fuel efficiency, including a clutch-driven air conditioner that reduces pumping losses, a more efficient generator and a smoother-flowing grade of oil. The stop/start system that is standard on 2019 Jettas with an automatic transmission shuts off the engine at appropriate times, is designed to help to reduce fuel consumption in stop-and-go traffic by as much as 6 percent.
Another major boost comes from the new 8-speed automatic transmission, which provides a wider band of drive ratios that allow more efficient running at higher speeds That power will hit the pavement through a new selection of low rolling-resistance tires that, while slightly larger than the tires on the previous model year Jetta, reduce resistance by up to 25 percent without sacrificing handling.
Every 2019 Jetta model will come with the People First Warranty, America’s best bumper-to-bumper limited warranty. The New Vehicle Limited Warranty provides coverage for six-years or 72,000-miles (whichever occurs first), and the warranty can be transferred to subsequent owners throughout the remainder of its duration.
The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta will be available in S, SE, R-Line, SEL, and SEL Premium trim levels and is expected to arrive at U.S. Volkswagen dealers in the second quarter of 2018. The R-Line trim features sportier styling, exclusive interior and exterior design elements, R-Line badging, and the XDS® electronic differential.
2019 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA COMPARED TO THE 1980 ORIGINAL
Herndon, VA (April 25th, 2018) — Originally billed as a “Rabbit with a trunk,” the first generation Volkswagen Jetta was designed for the growing number of buyers worldwide who wanted extra cargo space and the style of a sedan in a compact car. Shortly after its U.S. introduction in 1980, the Jetta became the best-selling German model in America, with more than 3.2 million models sold since.
Comparing the original generation of the Jetta, as represented by a 1982 version recently acquired and restored by Volkswagen Group of America, to the all-new 2019 Jetta demonstrates just how far the VW brand has advanced in nearly four decades—and what traits have remained true since its introduction.
When it first hit American roads, the compact Jetta defined a new segment for Volkswagen. The brand had considerable success with the subcompact Rabbit in the late 1970s, following the end of Beetle sales in the United States. Built off the Golf platform and named for the German word for “jet stream,” the Jetta two- and four-door versions were the sixth models in the VW lineup for 1980, along with the Rabbit, Dasher, Scirocco, Vanagon and VW Pickup.
For its era, the Jetta offered a standard amount of power—76 horsepower from a 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine. More important was its handling prowess, tuned to offer a tighter road feel than the other compact vehicles of its era. It had a healthy list of standard features, from power-assisted brakes and AM/FM cassette-player combo, to cut-pile carpet and intermittent wipers. The only options were a three-speed automatic transmission (in place of the standard five-speed manual), air conditioning, sunroof, tinted glass, and aluminum-alloy wheels.
| 1980 Jetta | 2019 Jetta | |
| Height | 55.5 inches | 57.4 inches |
| Width | 63.4 inches | 70.8 inches |
| Length | 167.8 inches | 185.1 inches |
| Wheelbase | 94.4 inches | 105.5 inches |
| Trunk space | 14.1 cu. ft. | 14.1 cu. ft. |
| Horsepower | 76 | 147 |
| Torque (lb-ft) | 83 | 185 |
| Transmissions | Five-speed manual, three-speed automatic | Six-speed manual, eight-speed automatic |
| EPA-estimated Fuel Economy | About 21 mpg combined* | 34 mpg combined |
| Brakes | Front disc/rear drum | 4-wheel disc; ABS, ESC |
| Steering | Rack and pinion, unassisted | Electric power steering |
| Wheels | 13-inch steel wheels with chrome hubcaps; optional 13-, 14- and 15-inch aluminum-alloy wheels | 16- and 17-inch aluminum-alloy wheels |
| Colors | Alpine White, Diamond Silver, Black, Indiana Red, Mexico Beige, Inari Silver | Pure White, Tornado Red, Black, Deep Black Pearl, White Silver, Platinum Grey, Sage Green, Silk Blue, Habanero Orange |
| Cruise Control | Unavailable | Standard; optional Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) |
| Lights | Dual sealed-beam headlights, bulb taillights | LED headlights & taillights; LED Daytime Running Lights; automatic on/off |
| Infotainment | AM/FM cassette stereo | AM/FM/SAT with touchscreen and standard Volkswagen Car-Net® App-Connect, Bluetooth® and USB; optional 8-speaker BeatsAudio® and navigation |
| Air Conditioning | Optional | Standard; optional dual-zone Climatronic® automatic climate control |
| Seats | 4 | 5, optional heated and cooled front seats, power driver’s seat, and heated rear seats |
| USB ports | Not yet invented | 1 or 2, dependent on trim |
| Ashtrays | 2 | 0 |
| Cigarette Lighter | 1 | 0 |
| Armrests | 0 | 2 |
| Cupholders | 0 | 8 |
| Airbags | 0 | 6 |
*EPA estimates for older models were revised lower than their original figures in subsequent years.
At first glance, the biggest difference between 39 years of automotive development isn’t just size or an extra seating position. While the 2019 Jetta is larger in every exterior dimension, its technology drives the most striking evolutions. LEDs were still only for calculators in 1980; today, the Jetta uses LED headlights and taillights along with LED Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) that create a light “signature.” In addition, a 10-color interior LED ambient lighting system is available.
Driver-assistance features in the first-generation Jetta included such touches as a driver’s side rearview mirror that you could adjust without rolling down the window. The side mirror on the 2019 Jetta is electrically adjustable, and can offer the Blind Spot Warning system that alerts drivers to vehicles they might not see otherwise. A rearview camera is standard as well. Other available driver-assistance technology available on the 2019 Jetta—like Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking (Front Assist), High Beam Control (Light Assist) and Lane Departure Warning (Lane Assist)—weren’t available on any vehicle in 1980. And where the original Jetta did not have cruise control, available Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) on the 2019 Jetta can work in stop-and-go traffic to resume speeds when traffic clears.
Of course, technology has also made the interior of the Jetta a much more pleasant place to spend time. Music in the original Jetta came from AM/FM radio or a cassette tape player. AM/FM radio has stood the test of time, while cassettes have given way to satellite radio and music streaming. The 2019 Jetta has a touchscreen infotainment system with standard Volkswagen Car-Net® App-Connect technology that offers compatible smartphone integration with the three major platforms—Apple CarPlay™, Android Auto™ and MirrorLink®. The new Jetta is the also the first Volkswagen in the U.S. to offer the available eight-speaker BeatsAudio® system. And despite its increased size, safety and features list, the 2019 Jetta has significantly better EPA-estimated fuel economy than its ancestor.
Yet some features of the seventh-generation Jetta have remained unchanged. In 1980, Car and Driver’s David E. Davis said “the big trunk, the roomy, comfortable interior, and the remarkable quiet at 75 miles per hour make the Jetta a lovely car for the serious driver.”
The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta will be available in S, SE, R-Line®, SEL, and SEL Premium trim levels and is expected to arrive at U.S. Volkswagen dealers in the second quarter of 2018.