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“All of Volkswagen’s premium-enthusiast Euro-appeal has been stripped from the Jetta”“The new model has hard plastic that wouldn’t look too out of place in a Chrysler Sebring”“Gone are the things that made the Jetta special to those who cared”“For the Jetta, it’s pay less and you get less. And in our opinion, that’s a step backwards”
There’s your verdict, straight from TTAC, C/D, LLN, and Edmunds respectively.
Jetta sales, first half 2011: 91,752, an increase of well over sixty percent over 2010
There’s another verdict, straight from the people who actually matter.
Does the first verdict refute the second — or support it?
Regular TTAC readers know how cozy, and incestuous, the relationship between automotive journalism, marketing, and product design can be. While it’s common for the buffet-browsing brigade to piss and moan about how everything would be fine if GM/Ford/Skoda/Bugatti would just listen to them and release a whole lineup of manual-transmission subcompact diesel wagons with active aero and hand-sewn ostrich-leather interiors, the fact of the matter is that plenty of cars are designed and/or tweaked with at least a passing thought to the whims and wishes of journalists.
Volkswagen, in particular, is known for making product decisions in the hopes of appealing to its “enthusiast” base and the media mouthpieces which claim to represent it. The problem, of course, is that doing so is almost always a mistake. Consider, if you will, the MkIV Golf R32. Volkswagen brought the car over as a love letter to its most devoted fans… who let them sit on the lots until the tires flat-spotted. The R32 ended up being a used-car-market superstar, often selling to its second owner for more than the first owner paid. VW could, and should have realized that this revealed an essential truth about the “enthusiast buyers”: they buy used, when they buy at all.
Instead, VW decided to repeat its mistake and bring the car over a second time in MkV guise. This completely hilarious “review” written before the car’s actual introduction is a perfect unintentional self-parody of the VW “enthusiast” market, and it’s worth reading for any number of reasons, but I’ll excerpt the relevant bits for those of you who are short on time.
This 2008 model is an R32 in name only.
Clearly Patrick Paternie of Autoweek Magazine (the author) and apparently every suit at VWoA seem to think that they know what VW enthusiasts want, yet they could not be more clueless than if they were a bunch of blind, drunk elephants stumbling around inside a china shop.
Yes, the 20004 R32 had incredible looks, it drove as well if not better than cars costing 4x as much. The .:R’s exhaust note was nearly orgasmic. It simply OOZED testosterone. It was a guys car. It was a beast.
VW owners are more educated and have more refined tastes than any other group of brand owners out there
They even removed the dual exhaust (and I did not believe this was even possible) and swapped it for a set of pipes that resembled a woman’s vagina comparatively speaking. It was like the Grinch had marched into R32 Town and stolen Christmas.
In conclusion, the new R32 may sell well, but I can tell you that most of us in the Vortex community who actually own or owned the 2004 R32 will not be buying it because we realize just how much we will be sacrificing in the process.
Pay very close attention to the next quote, because it’s critical. I’ve even highlighted the relevant section for you. I’m helpful like that.
Yet, if I had 33K dollars, I might consider buying the 2008 R32 if the car offered a driving experience superior to the 2004 model.
Yes, and if I had a hundred million dollars I might consider running a Daytona Prototype team where all the cars were vinyl-wrapped with an original piece of erotic line art, created by yours truly a few years ago in a drunken fit, depicting a “Titanic”-era Kate Winslet kneeling topless in front of me while I scored a million points at “Galaga”.
You would think that Volkswagen would get tired of letting people who don’t buy cars at all, or don’t buy their cars until they are five years old dictate their product strategy. Pas du tout. The second-generation R32 was also showroom poison. Oops.
In fairness, there is one group of VW enthusiasts who vote with their wallets at new-car showrooms, and that is the TDI crowd. They buy the cars new, and they buy as many of them as they can collectively afford. Trouble is, that doesn’t account for very many units. It’s impossible to run a nationwide dealer network on diesel-wagon volume. It takes six-figure mojo and plenty of it. This isn’t the America, or the economy, which supported Max Hoffmann towing one Beetle with another one to a dealer a thousand miles away and taking the train home. This is the America that closed the doors on Oldsmobile because they couldn’t break the 500k mark in annual sales.
The new Jetta and Passat reflect Volkswagen’s long-overdue comprehension of the above facts. Instead of being aimed at mommy’s-basement types who would totally buy an R36 Turbo ten years from now if it depreciates heavily, the new line is designed, equipped, and priced for people who actually buy cars. And — surprise! — people are buying them. This guy may never buy a 2011 Jetta. VW has ceased caring about that guy.
I have come up with two interpretations for the success of the 2011 Jetta, and I’m going to ask you to choose one of the two, or suggest an alternate theory, in the comments.
Scenario #1: The new Jetta is succeeding because it is the right car, at the right price, for people who buy cars in that segment. Those people don’t want a miniature FWD S-Class. They just want a nice Jetta they can afford. This is the “Autojournos don’t know” scenario, by the way.
Scenario #2: The new Jetta is trading on the reputation, and prestige, of the Euro-cred MkIV and MkV. Buyers are too stupid to realize that they are getting the dumbed-down bargain version. When they find out, they will abandon the cars, and the brand, forever, and VW will actually be forced to bury the entire Chattanooga factory in the same place Atari put the million unsold “E.T.” cartridges back in 1981. This is the “Autojournos DO know” scenario.
My vote is for #1. There was a time, during the fifteen years when I owned everything from a single 1990 Fox to a pair of V8 Phaetons, that I would have desperately cared about which scenario is correct. It’s academic to me now. So let’s hear what you think, okay?
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NN July 11th, 2011 at 12:01 pm This morning during my commute I saw a 2000-era white base Passat, and immediately behind it a 2011 base Jetta, also in white. The cars looked very much alike, and to the naked eye look about exactly the same size. It seems VW came up with a very good basic formula years ago and realize they don’t have to change it much.
Either way, value is king in the American market. The fact that VW is now for once offering honest value, millions of customers who previously wouldn’t consider VW will now do so. There are people who still do care about stick shifts and conservative yet ageless German design and feel to their cars, but aren’t willing to pay x thousands above competing Asian and American offerings to get it. Now they are priced competitively. It really is that simple.
When i was shopping for a midsize sedan last year, I wouldn’t even bother checking out a VW dealer. Seeing the new price points on the 2012 Passat, I would have definitely checked one out if I were buying this fall.
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alexndr333 July 11th, 2011 at 6:14 pm VW made a smart move in producing a German Corolla, just a Chevy has done with an American version (the Cruze). Both are selling very well. However, both marques will have to show that their cars are reliable over the long term so that buyers can justify the purchase over a Corolla or Civic. At least they’ve each got the chance, now. Frankly, I think VW has a bigger hill to climb based on the bad reputation they’ve earned in recent years. (No one said the Cruze’s predecessor, the Cobalt, was unreliable, just terribly dull.) I’ll go with Scenario #1: Auto-journalists are no different than any other media group: They often end up writing for each other and a small fan base more than for the larger public – you know, those folks who actually buy new cars.
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FromaBuick6 July 11th, 2011 at 9:01 pm Oddly enough, one of the biggest knocks against the MkV Jetta when it debuted was that it looked too much like a Corolla. And for all the enthusiast hype of the fancy interior, independent suspension and gas struts on the decklid, the enhancements did nothing for VW sales, which faltered as the marque’s quality woes caught up with them.
I think the new Jetta is both better looking and more in line with what compact buyers are looking for, equipment-wise. Nevermind the questionable reliability, the last Jetta was just a bad buy when you could get a bigger and/or quicker car for the same money. The new car rectifies that and the fact that sales are way up should surprise no one.
Pch101 July 11th, 2011 at 12:03 pm I vote for #1, combined with the fact that they’re marketing the hell out of it and offering it with cheap financing and lease deals.
The car is also bigger than the last version, which may make it seem more like a competitor to the Camry than it is to the Corolla. On that basis, it may seem like a real bargain (although we’ll see about that when the repair bills come in.)
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ixim July 11th, 2011 at 12:09 pm Maybe the repair bills won’t come in this time. Besides, in a cheap lease, under warranty the whole time, who cares?
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Jaynen July 11th, 2011 at 12:03 pm So where is the line art?
Login to reply ixim July 11th, 2011 at 12:05 pm +1 for #1! So true. I see a lot of the new Jettas around here lately; they look better than the Asian competition – except the altogether different Hyundai/Kias and they’re a good deal, pricewise. Not that I’d EVER get one…lol.
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david42 July 11th, 2011 at 12:05 pm I vote for #1. The Corolla, which was once a “mini-LS400? (I forget who said it), is still a success. The new Civic has been Jetta-fied, and I’m not about to accuse Honda of ignorance when it comes to designing compact cars.
I’d venture that 99% of small FWD cars are bought by people who want a low-cost commuter car. Try telling these folks about soft-touch plastics or fancy rear suspensions, and watch their eyes glaze over.
Having said that, I feel that #2 has some merit, but not for the reason Jack cited: once these people find out how UNRELIABLE their Jetta is, they’ll kick themselves for not buying a Corolla or Civic. Worst case scenario: The new Jetta becomes VW’s Chevy Citation. (As a disgruntled ex-Passat owner, I’m sort of hoping for this outcome.)
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Russycle July 11th, 2011 at 12:46 pm Spot on regarding the Citation reference. I think the sales bump is due to a combination of 1 and 2, when you’re laying down upwards of 20 grand on a vehicle it’s nice to get something with a little more zing than a toyonda appliance, and the extra elbow room doesn’t hurt either. But VW has to get it right this time, if they leave all these new customers high and dry they might as well punt as far as the USA is concerned.
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psarhjinian July 11th, 2011 at 1:01 pm I’ve had a lot of seat time in about every (North American) Corolla ever made, and “mini LS” doesn’t describe any of them.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding by car guys, just as the Jetta is/was (as Jack so brilliantly illustrates. The Corolla sold well because it’s cheap to run, cheap to buy and is unkillable even by people like, eg, my mother, who didn’t know what “oil changes” or why you should do them for the first two and half years post-divorce. Yeah, A W123 Mercedes can go a million miles if you keep up the maintenance. A Corolla will do half that if you don’t.
Mini-LS? Hell no, except in perhaps the “rides like it’s 125% of it’s size”. It’s a mean, crummy little car that
The Jetta sold to people who wanted a nice-ish car that rode well, has good seats and a respectable badge. It had a problem, though, in that was cramped and expensive (and that it glitched out once the warranty was up). VW made it less cramped and cheaper, which means that people who couldn’t look at anything short of a Passat can now seriously consider VW.
“Car guys” didn’t get this, but then “car guys” don’t care about back seat space or as-new purchase price.
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86er July 11th, 2011 at 4:01 pm Mini-LS? Hell no, except in perhaps the “rides like it’s 125% of it’s size”. It’s a mean, crummy little car that
Expletive deleted?
I agree, the less said, the better. :)
willman July 11th, 2011 at 3:47 pm @david42: Agreed.
+They’re also falling for VW’s Bait-And-Switch $15,995-I mean $16,495 pricing, for the model that nobody will stock and many will just upgrade to the $21k trim.
And on that point, I’d Love to hear from VWoA what the % breakdown is by Trim-Level. How many of that 90k is the S-Model?
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th009 July 11th, 2011 at 4:13 pm I checked Bernardsville VW (a large VW dealer in NYC area): of their 24 Jetta sedans in stock, 4 are Jetta S.
http://www.bernardsvillevw.com/new/index.cfm
Checking of other dealer inventory is left as an exercise for the reader …
harryc July 11th, 2011 at 12:08 pm I’ll wager most of us are VWVortex refugees, but I’ll bite anyway.
Scenario #1, hands down. Everyone’s bet big on “premium small car” (the C&D comparo said as much), except for VW. They went with dead simple (antediluvian 8V 2.slow) with a huge backseat, so they’re winning. They’re not lost in the CVT morass of other automakers, and they’re not asleep at the switch like Toyota and Honda in this segment.
Car enthusiasts seem to be perpetually broke and fickle. In these times, if auto makers want to survive, they must build reliable simple cars the masses will love, with maybe a sports package (Original Sentra SE-R, anyone?) thrown in as a bone to enthusiasts.
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hreardon July 11th, 2011 at 1:36 pm Tah-dah. I think that after a long time, VWoA has woken up and realized two things:
1. Value is king in the United States
and
2. The “enthusiast market” is comprised of a bunch of dudes who talk big, but carry very small bank accounts.
I was the owner of MK IV R32…that I was able to purchase at a significant discount, used, with only 1100 miles on the ODO. It was pure luck that the dealership where I knew the sales manager had one sitting in the front when I brought my previous car in for service. The car was the service manager’s, who bought it and then his wife got pregnant and said “get rid of it”.
As a joke, I said to the sales manager, “for $25k, I’ll take it”. He replied, “I’ve got $25.5 in it – so if you’ll do that, it’s yours”.
The next day I drove off and enjoyed the *crap* out of that car until needs dictated a 4-door a year later and I sold it for more than I bought it for.
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Stacy McMahon July 11th, 2011 at 12:08 pm #1 of course, and it’s been fairly obvious since the first set of press intros. In between the B&Ming about hard plastic (did they all sit down and figure that one out ahead of time? Because the complaints were practically word-for-word in about a dozen different mainstream pubs) they all said the car was fun to drive and had above-average interior space, while getting good if not earth-shattering gas mileage. Oh, and being 2-3 grand cheaper. It wasn’t hard to figure out that it would do well.
To be fair, a lot of journos did figure it out. Probably the second most common line after the hard plastic was this-will-sell-but-its-not-a-real-VW-anymore.
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vbofw July 11th, 2011 at 12:11 pm Clearly a combination of the two, but I’m very glad Jack mentioned Scenario #2 because that angle has not been discussed yet to my knowledge. They can coast off the “old” Jetta reputation for a few years….maybe even an entire model run until the reputation trickles down to Corolla/Civic territory [and that's assuming it stays reliable, or a big IF]. In the meantime they should move some nice metal in the US
But Scenario #1 is also very valid. As much teeth-mashing as the Jetta rightfully generated by journos and the Best & Brightest, it really is the right car at the right price for John Q. Car Buyer. These people are the majority of the car buying public. They just don’t care about drum brakes, rock hard touch surfaces, embarrassingly cheap instrumentation panels, and plastic seats.
Like I think Jack said in his review of the Focus Titanium, the euro-obsessed enthusiasts now have that car to gravitate to. Strange times
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WaftableTorque July 11th, 2011 at 12:13 pm Being a non-enthusiast and a general hater of Mr. Piech, I’ve never seen the appeal of the Golf, Jetta, nor Passat. Aside from being too small and expensive, I’ve always been disappointed by their agricultural-like base engines, lumpy torque curve of their gutless TDI, and lack of suspension travel.
I did cross shop the Passat W8 sedan years ago, but glad I didn’t buy it because the design has aged badly.
That said, I personally prefer the new interiors and restyled exterior over the previous generations. It’s more in line with American tastes. I haven’t driven them so I can’t comment on how they ride.
So my vote is for scenario 1. It’s amazing what people will buy at the right price point.
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redmondjp July 11th, 2011 at 12:46 pm Have you driven any TDI-equipped models? I have a ’96 Passat TDI, and while the car has electrical and body mechanical gremlins too numerous to describe here, “lumpy torque curve” and “gutless” are two words I would never use to describe the car/engine! I’ve always been amazed at how much power the car has, especially considering the engine displacement and vehicle weight. And then I smile, remembering that no matter how I drive it, I’m still getting 40+ mpg.
Back to the topic at hand, my vote is for scenario #1. Most people (wife included) couldn’t care less what’s under the hood, and just want an appliance that reliably gets them from point A to B. Value sells.
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ClutchCarGo July 11th, 2011 at 12:13 pm Scenario #1.5 – The new Jetta is trading on the reputation, and prestige, of the Euro-cred MkIV and MkV. The new Jetta is succeeding because it is the right car, at the right price, for people who buy cars in that segment but also want to be perceived as having more money/class/auto savvy that their brethren who are buying Hyundais and Kias. Eventually this will dilute the Jetta brand, but as long as a mix of up and down-scale Jettas is sold, the down-scale owners will be happy to keep up the pretense and VW will be happy with the mix.
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Sundowner July 11th, 2011 at 12:16 pm Why not both? I’m voting for #2 as a bias, though. And sure, #1 has some merit. It’s a reasonably sized car and a fair price. But there’s a lot of that in the market from a lot of different makers. Why pick a VW? Vw’s are regarded as more expensive counterparts to domestic and asian offerings. A cheap buy-in to the funky hipster brand with good rear leg room? why not?
But history holds true, then VW reliability bites them in the left arse cheek followed by a matching bite on the right cheek from VW customer service. I know VW has put a new focus on not making crap at the factory or swearing its actually roses at the service department, but time will tell.
#2 will fail because it must. when everyone buys something special, it’s not special anymore. #1 will succeed IF VW steps up to the plate with quality product and service.
Personally, I’m rooting for VW, but I’ll root on someone else’s dime. I gave up on the brand after the disaster of my 2010 Jetta TDI.
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BrendanMac July 11th, 2011 at 12:16 pm Well, as Abraham J Simpson would put it, “a little from column A, a little from column B.”
The Jetta is selling like hot-pretzels because it is a nice Jetta people can afford. Suddenly, all those design-student Mac users can actually afford some fine German engineering to tuck in their parking space. It’s different, it looks cool (ish), and you can stick cards in the spokes. Wait, no you can’t, but my point still works: this car is an automotive fixie. Not very functional, but hip.
What the new Jetta’s sale success really says about Automotive Journalism is that a new generation of buyers (or at least the younger buyers in this segment) don’t care about Automotive Journalism unless they’re enthusiasts. They want an ironic shirt with lots of wolves on it. Who cares if it itches like a mofo’?
The question it poses is: how do we better reach them? Also, I’m sure sales will drop once the shine is off the strudel.
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hubcap July 11th, 2011 at 1:17 pm Agree somewhat but do you really care about automotive journalists? If you find a car you want to buy do you not because of something a journalist said?
I think for the most part we buy what we want.
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pharmer July 11th, 2011 at 12:17 pm I’m voting for #1 with a dash of snobbery along the lines of “it’s a German brand, so I’m inherently getting a more performance-oriented/safe/prestigious car even at the same price point.” VW has been offering killer rebates and lease deals for years, so I don’t think I’d chalk it up to that.
It does have a greater presence on TV than previous cars have had. Advertising does matter, apparently. I have noticed a lot more of them running around. It’s not a bad looking car to my eyes when you compare it to it’s competition. I imagine it’s all the car and more that most people would ever need or want.
Login to reply 86er July 11th, 2011 at 12:17 pm VW is really going full-court press on this new little thing.
Horrible Bosses is an extended informercial for this new little thing. In fairness, Kevin Spacey does call it a “piece of junk”, but then he’s also one of the eponymous employers in question, so you’re supposed to build up sympathy for the new little thing.
Charlie Day also kicks some dents in the rear passenger door, and let me just say, they don’t make German steel like they used to.
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carguy July 11th, 2011 at 12:21 pm Mostly #1 but also a dash of #2. Clearly VW needed to change its strategy as domestics were lifting their game in terms of refinement and going the value-meal route is always well received in the US.
However, there is also some truth in the 2nd option in that offering a VW for the price of a Chevy has buyers gravitating for what they perceive to be the better brand based on previous offerings.
The other question is how long the sales boost will last. I distinctly remember that the Dodge Caliber was such an initial sales success that Chrysler excluded it from their employee discount program. Let’s see what happens once the marketing dollars have run out and we are in year two and three of the sales cycle.
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brettc July 11th, 2011 at 12:21 pm I agree with #1 as well. The masses apparently like bland and reasonably priced blandmobiles. (look at the Camry’s success over the years).
As an A4/Mark IV TDI enthusiast, there’s no way VW will make enough money off of me to continue operating in the US. I currently own 3 TDIs, and the newest one is 8 years old. And I don’t plan on buying a new one until VW offers a more entry-level priced car with a diesel engine. I refuse to pay $30000 for a Golf TDI. So that means fixing my existing cars. And that’s done with parts from online vendors, because the only reasonably priced part at a VW dealer is the OEM battery.
So since myself and probably many other enthusiasts give so little money to VW, someone has to keep them going. I guess it might as well be someone that doesn’t know what a diesel engine is or care that the MkVI Jetta is back to using a rear trailing arm. I just hope that VW has engineered the new Jetta and Passat to be extremely reliable. Otherwise VW will have another mid to late 90s sales decline in a few years.
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philadlj July 11th, 2011 at 12:23 pm R32: Make a car for the hardcore American VW enthusiast.
New Jetta: Make a nice car that people will buy in large numbers.
Phaeton: Make a car…because Ferdinand Piëch said so.
surakmn July 11th, 2011 at 12:26 pm Obviously it’s scenario 1. The Civic and Corolla are boring but most people are looking for an appliance. Sales figures don’t lie. The base Jetta is shockingly decontented, but reviews of the TDI I’ve seen have been favorable.
At 120K my 2006 Jetta TDI is barely broken in, but I’d still consider the new Jetta if I needed a replacement. Though to be honest I’d also consider the Passat since it’s offering aTDI option.
Login to reply vbofw July 11th, 2011 at 12:29 pm I thought the Jetta TDI and the Jetta SEL are the exact same trim.
I’ve always thought the $2,100 premium on the TDI is a really poor value if you’re looking to ever recoup that in fuel savings. Would take something like 7 years just to break-even at average mileage. And that is before taking into account the frequent fuel filter swaps which can’t be cheap.
Login to reply th009 July 11th, 2011 at 2:29 pm But as with a hybrid option, the TDI will also be worth more at resale, so you really don’t need to recoup the entire premium before you sell, unless you plan to run the car into the ground.
Bytor July 11th, 2011 at 12:26 pm Cheaper and bigger sells to the masses. This isn’t news.
As soon as the new Jetta was announced I figured it would be a success because it is cheaper and bigger.
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turbosaab July 11th, 2011 at 12:31 pm I’ll go with #1. The Audi-esque exterior styling helps. Most mainstream customers just don’t care that much about how soft the plastics are.
It’s also interesting to note that the average Jetta transaction price has increased. Per Automotive News:
“A few weeks, ago my colleague Diana T. Kurylko interviewed Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. Browning had an interesting comment: Jetta’s lower base price attracted new customers and the average transaction price increased.
“We are selling more units above $19,000 than ever before,” Browning said.
Login to reply hreardon July 11th, 2011 at 1:41 pm Exactly what Browning said. The art of buying a car is an emotional one, and once you entice someone into the showroom the chances of getting someone to buy goes up exponentially. At that point, many people are committed to the cause, get themselves psyched up, and will trade-up to something more expensive once they get their hands on it.
Audi’s S4 is exactly this case. Audi of America calls it their “aspirational car” because while being significnatly more expensive than a midrange A4, the car gets people to stretch because they think it’s worth the extra money. That’s a great position for an automaker to be in – and one reason why most S4s are selling for close to sticker price.
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talkstoanimals July 11th, 2011 at 12:38 pm I think it’s probably no. 1. Over the years my grandparents bought multiple Jettas/Golfs/Rabbits of each generation (except for MKV, of which they only bought/own one – likely the last since my grandmother is well into her 80s and my grandfather just died a few weeks ago.) All they really wanted was a basic, thrifty, somewhat fun to drive car. MKs I – III suited those needs perfectly. As the cars became more upscale with Mks IV and V, my grandparents didn’t really respond to the greater refinement and, I guarantee, would have bought more basic versions had they been available at the time. I suspect my grandparents are the types of customers who buy the bulk of the Jettas in this country, and they would have liked the MK VI just fine.
As long as VW supplies the TDIs, GTIs and GLIs with a bit more of the supposed traditional VW attributes of refinement and better driving dynamics, I suspect the enthusiasts will continue to pony up for those machines while VW simultaneously shifts many thousands more of the “declasse” new cars.
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Boff July 11th, 2011 at 12:44 pm It is a blend of Scenarios 1 and 2, in my view. The new Jetta is selling well because it is CHEAP. And, as importantly, it is cheap relative to its forebear.
In Canada, VW got the idea to sell the old MkIV (I think) Golf and Jetta as “City” models alongside the new MkV’s. The City’s were CHEAP. And they sold like hotcakes. In the average consumer’s mind (and I’ll be charitable here and say they are non-enthusiast, rather than stupid), they were still Golf’s and Jetta’s, but now at a super discount. The same dynamic is in play with the new Jetta.
Login to reply th009 July 11th, 2011 at 2:32 pm VW Canada got the idea from VW South Africa, though: there the Golf Mk1 production continued until 2009 as the Citi Golf — 26 years after it was discontinued elsewhere!
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spyked July 11th, 2011 at 12:45 pm I still don’t see why people are hating on the Jetta. Not long ago all sorts of poor people used to say “I stopped liking VW when they stopped making simple cheap cars for the masses.” Now VW is making a simple cheap car, and people are complaining. And, for the record, the last “unreliable” Jetta/Golfs were the MKIVs. Let’s get that out of the way. The MKV models were just as solid as anything else out there with regard to reliability.
Second, what cars are people comparing the Jetta to with regard to interior quality? Sure VW had to spend less money on interior materials. The cost savings goes to the buyers. The BUYERS in the U.S. said they wanted a cheaper Jetta. That’s what they got. Sat in an Asian branded economy car lately? Even the new Forte and Elantra have cheap interiors – they also happen to be complicated and overly styled. The only car in the segment that has nicer materials is the Focus. And it’s more money.
If you really want a VW economy car with a richer interior you can get a Jetta wagon or a VW Golf. I wish they offered a leather steering wheel in a Golf 2.5 – I’d buy one as a fun commuter.
My only gripe about the new Jetta is the rear drum brakes on the S and SE models. Ugly! But VW offers the SEL, so if I wanted rear disk brakes I’d buy a SEL Jetta, Jetta Wagen, a Golf, or a Mazda when they make it look less comical for 2012.
Seriously, the Jetta now competes directly with a Corolla and Civic. People for years have been seriously craving something other than those cars. People are HAPPY to have something solid and Euro-bred as a choice in that segment. And the sales numbers reflect that. By and large, auto journalists are like other journalists – they aren’t car people – they landed in that job out of college just like other journalists.
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bunkie July 11th, 2011 at 12:50 pm #1 All the way.
The sad fact is that car love is on the decline in the US. Most people view cars as appliances. Even BMWs are viewed this way (in the sense that the *function* of the appliance is to impress others).
In this respect, VW is returning to their roots. The new Jetta is the contemporary successor to the Type 1.
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Mark MacInnis July 11th, 2011 at 12:50 pm It is really very simple, JB….”Build a better friggin’ mouse trap,….” and so on, and so forth.
I call it genius.
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George B July 11th, 2011 at 12:58 pm Mostly scenerio 1. I think the 2011 Jetta is simply a better value for the masses than the previous model because it’s large enough for four adults and it looks like a real car. I liked driving the previous model, but disliked it’s too tall too narrow proportions. Drarf proportioned cars are discounted cars in the US.
I want to see what Volkswagen does with the GLI. Hope VW offers the soft touch interior and independent rear suspension for those customers willing to pay a little more. I believe that VW would find paying customers for the combination of diesel, soft touch interior, and IRS.
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snabster July 11th, 2011 at 1:02 pm I haven’t been in a new Jetta, but I am seeing tons on the road in DC.
From window peeking, the inside looks nice. It may not “feel” good but that “feeling” thing is just a fetish. Or just signalling that you read about cars in your spare time.
People are cheap. They want something that doesn’t scream Korean cheap. The Jetta is OK. I think the Fiesta is also doing a good job moving upmarket, although it looks awful inside. The Cruze, which is probably the nicest inside, is being neglected, as usual.
Login to reply talkstoanimals July 11th, 2011 at 2:29 pm “The Cruze, which is probably the nicest inside, is being neglected, as usual.”
Really? I feel like I see them around DC all the time now – far more than the Fiesta. And I thought I remembered seeing that sales are pretty good. But perhaps they just stand out to me for some reason.
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SherbornSean July 11th, 2011 at 1:02 pm Door #3: Any time a new vehicle is introduced that meets unmet demand, there is a sales bump, like the Caliber when it was introduced (and the Neon before it), early MDX, PT Cruiser, and the current Cobalt. It doesn’t mean it’s a great car, or that sales success will last.
Let’s see where sales are in a year, at which point, the Cobalt will have a ton of money on the hood, Hyundai dealers will be pricing the Elantra at invoice, and Honda will have its manufacturing cpacity fully online. I am betting on a flash in the pan for VW.
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HoldenSSVSE July 11th, 2011 at 1:20 pm Where do you buy a Cobalt?
Login to reply SherbornSean July 11th, 2011 at 5:37 pm Ooops. Thanks, Holden, I forgot they changed it to Cruze.
hreardon July 11th, 2011 at 1:44 pm That’s actually a good argument to make. Initial sales are poor indicators of overall performance for a model because of pent-up demand.
I would argue that while sales will of course plateau at some point, I think the car will do well. It’s simpler, less complex, more profitable and (knock on wood) more reliable. Those were the internal goals for the car, at least.
Enthusiasts will still get the GLI, which I would bet most dealers will only order a handful of….
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anchke July 11th, 2011 at 1:03 pm Use a sports analogy here: A team’s fans evaluate players differently than the people who manage and coach the team. Fans like a player with a bit of flash, some passion, maybe a little rascally, one who will stay on the field and sign autographs for their tykes. Management would prefer someone who puts paying customers in the seats, wins games and whose future isn’t receding faster than his hairline. So if the score card tracks product sold, there will always be a conflict between the fan POV and more analytic types who are playing with real dough.
Car journalists are usually fans themselves and their customers are other fans, not manufacturers or car buyers. If you’re building cars, you need people to buy ‘em, so you have on staff a passel of analytic types who are able to predict what factors will move the metal. The Germans have figured something out mein herr. The journos say the new VWs are homely and a step backward. But on the road, in comparison to some of their competition, I’d say the new VWs look like cars for grownups. And at an attractive price, too.
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AKADriver July 11th, 2011 at 1:07 pm I’m with you. To me, the difference is academic.
For what it’s worth, I completely agree with the journalists’ zeitgeist up until the point where they predict failure as a result. I’m cynical enough to believe that with very few exceptions (the NA Miata comes to mind), cars which please journalists and excite enthusiasts are sales poison. The buying public aren’t so much stupid as they are actively interested in dull, anonymous, not-too-nice cars.
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tsoden July 11th, 2011 at 1:07 pm So the Jetta has moved toward being a car that almost everyone can afford. Well I suppose if you want more, you could always buy a golf instead. I do find it interesting how the Jetta and Golf seemed to change roles… I always thought of the Jetta as the more expensive of the siblings, but now it seems to be the opposite.
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cdotson July 11th, 2011 at 1:11 pm While I agree that there’s some of both #1 and #2 going on, I do take issue with the way you characterize #2.
People too stupid to realize they’re getting dumbed-down bargain cars are people who didn’t know VW had “Euro-creds” to begin with, or maybe what the heck “euro-creds” even are. I find it more likely the momma’s-basement dwellers are knowingly buying bargain versions of a marque riding on it’s Euro-creds reputation and growing aesthetically closer to its upscale cousin Audi so that they may foster a certain image in the minds of people too stupid to recognize reality as the buyers spout the lines that they’ve got Euro-credz. The #2 is still valid, still relatively small compared to #1, but IMHO mistakenly characterized. It should be more forcefully lampooned.
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3800FAN July 11th, 2011 at 1:11 pm I say it’s selling well because it fits a sweet spot in size between a compact and a midsize. For the price of a compact you get a bigger car than what the competition offers. That’s more important to people than a “fun driving” car with high quality interior that costs more. For years I’ve complained about the “people’s car” being too expensive for the people. Now it looks like vw has listened and they’re getting rewarded for it.
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nvdw July 11th, 2011 at 1:12 pm To answer your original question Jack, I won’t quite get there with the ‘journos don’t know’ schtick. I’d rather speak of a perception gap. You see, ‘them journos’ do get things right. All the remarks on decontenting and the like, how blasé they may seem, are true. The general buying public however apparently doesn’t give a toss about low-grade plastics. Instead, they see that the Jetta offers more of the stuff that matters in the real world: interior space, trusty mechanicals.
The answer to your question is: automotive journalism is out of touch with the general buying public. They might, however, not be out of touch with their readers. Is Joe Average an avid C/D subscriber, does he frequent Edmunds, Left Lane or even TTAC? I think he doesn’t and neither did he 25 years ago. It doesn’t matter. Buff books and ditto sites may still call a car mediocre and be right without the market backing their statements. It’s the same everywhere else. Britney Spears’ Crossroads earned $61m, despite critics all over the world panning it (and rightly so).
Automotive journalism caters and has always catered to the enthusiast. It ends once the enthusiast isn’t being catered to anymore.
Login to reply nvdw July 11th, 2011 at 1:14 pm PS: do my eyes deceive me or does that ad really say “Suprisingly”?
Login to reply bunkie July 11th, 2011 at 2:13 pm I long ago gave up trusting anything that automotive journalists write when reviewing cars. How many times have we seen the following scenario?
1) New car comes out. It gets “reviewed” in buff books. It’s a great car with only minor shortcomings and very much to love.
2) Later that year, the same car is featured in a “comparo” with every other competitor. Suddenly, it’s awful (even compared to cars that preceded it when reviewed as new).
I find it hard to take this kind of stuff seriously.
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outback_ute July 11th, 2011 at 8:51 pm Agree completely, it is only when a car is replaced that you sometimes find out what the journos really thought about it. The initial VE Commodore reviews in particular were a very instructive exercise, a lot of areas where the car was hugely improved over the old models despite little if any criticism of those aspects at the time.
micvog July 11th, 2011 at 1:12 pm Neither, but #1 is closer. However, implied in that option is the oft-repeated mantra that the Jetta interior is cheap. It certainly could be nicer, but I much prefer it to the Cruze or Focus. The latter are overly fussy in their design, where the Jetta seems tightly screwed together and panels seem to line up well. The extra interior room is a nice bonus and puts the new Jetta at the top of the list to replace my rock-solid and dependable MkV.
Login to reply HoldenSSVSE July 11th, 2011 at 1:18 pm Scenario #1: The new Jetta is succeeding because it is the right car, at the right price, for people who buy cars in that segment. Those people don’t want a miniature FWD S-Class. They just want a nice Jetta they can afford. This is the “Autojournos don’t know” scenario, by the way.
Nails it.
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MikeAR July 11th, 2011 at 1:19 pm Price sells, especially with value thrown in. I read all the criticism at the time and I’m not suprised at all that sales have been good. In real life I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say the car’s interior was bad. On the internet it seems to be common though. I’m not sure why but it would be interesting to explore that sometime.
Maybe we have reached a saturation point of electronics and options now and decontented cars will be the wave of the future. I hope so anyway.
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Neb July 11th, 2011 at 1:19 pm When I read all about VW going downmarket, it didn’t really surprise me, nor did I care. It had been a decade since VW went upmarket, and stopped being a fun euro alternative to the Japanese. Why did people buy tiny jetta sedans, that might have drove nicely but broke expensively all the time? I didn’t understand.
So the move downmarket and subsequent decontenting, assuming here that you are rational buyer, removed the last reason to buy a VW. But, really, did that reason even matter? If you knew someone who was looking to buy a new small car and wanted something fun, you’d probably direct them to something Japanese, like a Mazda. Then you’d have fun to drive, reliability, and as a bonus the service department wouldn’t be staffed by reptiles.
So, yeah, the whole thing seems to be a tempest in a teapot to me. It’s just like when Mac stopped building it’s own hardware, and started to use off the shelf PC components. If you knew the difference, this was a major knock against buying Mac, since one of the things you paid all that extra for was the special hardware. But most people have no idea about that stuff, and thus, it didn’t effect Mac’s sales.
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jkross22 July 11th, 2011 at 1:20 pm The lower the price, the greater number of buyers. Not much else needs to be said. So long as it’s not a complete POS, it will sell. Whether it will keep selling is dependent on it’s POS-ness.
We’re in austere times. Price is king.
Login to reply HoldenSSVSE July 11th, 2011 at 6:29 pm Ahhh, if the average transaction price of the new Jetta wasn’t $26,000, $1,000 higher than the outgoing Jetta it replaced, this simply truth would be – simple. But the average transaction for a new Jetta is well above the come on in asking price of a stripper two-oh-slow with a manual and at the high end of the C-Segment competitors.
Login to reply vbofw July 11th, 2011 at 8:32 pm “Ahhh, if the average transaction price of the new Jetta wasn’t $26,000, $1,000 higher than the outgoing Jetta it replaced, this simply truth would be – simple.”
Ahhh, nothing is a lightning rod quite like the VW posts are. People just make stuff up!
@HoldenSSVSE: a fully loaded SEL Jetta (check every option) MSRPs (not transaction price) for $24,865. Average transaction price $23,900. Quite obviously the average price for all Jettas going out the door is nowhere near $26,000.
A fully-loaded TDI (which likely represents <5% of all units moved) MSRPs for $26,000, and on average sells at $25,150.
So for your $26,000 figure to hold up as the average TRANSACTION price, there would probably have to be $4-5k cash in the glovebox.
frizzlefry July 11th, 2011 at 1:22 pm My Audi dealership had the R32 problem too. They got two fully loaded 2009 A3 3.2 S-Lines in with the magnetic suspension option. Basically Audi-badged R32s. Asking price was 57 grand Canadian. They sat on the lot for a year. Both sold at a discount to dealership employees after which I bought mine used for 36 grand with 30,000kms. Shop manager owned it. It’s an absolutely awesome car but 57 grand was too much, no one was going to pay that much for a hatchback. I asked the sales guy what new Audis sell for 57 grand and he said loaded A4s or a bare-bones A5. Not enthusiast cars. Upper middle class families people buy them. Being an enthusiast, if I had 57 grand to spend I would buy the used 2007 RS4 with 50,000km on it for 50 grand, not a new A3. The depreciation of VW/Audi cars make buying used such a disgusting deal that it’s hard to sell sport models brand new.
Login to reply hreardon July 11th, 2011 at 1:47 pm Great point. This is why the magnetic ride-equipped A3s only lasted for one model year and why the 3.2 was phased out in favor of the 2.0 TDI.
The ’07 RS4 didn’t have the same fate because there were fewer of them and at that price point you’re not talking about 19 – 22 year olds lusting after a car with no checkbook, but grownups with lots of disposable income to play with. ;-)
Login to reply frizzlefry July 11th, 2011 at 2:01 pm Yeah the magnetic ride was short lived in the A3, despite the fact that it’s absolutely awesome. From what I see there is another factor in buying used VW/Audi cars, particularly with Audi. There are often short-lived “gems” that they price too high and can’t sell new but have great features you can’t find in new models ie magnetic ride, the 3.2 in an A3 or the 2.7T engine (that had a big desirability factor used as they replaced it with a slower engine in the next generation A6 at the time) Plus the fact that you can chip the heck out of used VW/Audi cars for a couple hundred bucks and get better performance than brand new models. Most other manufacturer’s new models are legitimately better than the previous generation but that’s not always the case with VW/Audi.
hubcap July 11th, 2011 at 1:37 pm It’s both.
Scenario #2 beings customers into the showroom (though I wouldn’t refer to them as dumb).
Scenario #1 seals the deal.
The real challenge is what happens three to four years down the road. If VW didn’t design/engineer better reliability into this car the fat lady will be singing. Loudly.
As for the interior comments I understand both sides. A great interior is one of the things that made recent VW’s a VW. But when you compare it to the interiors of cars who VW wants to swipe customers from (Civic, Accord, Camry, Corolla) its not that bad and the increased panache of a VW badge more than makes up for it.
Ask yourself if you’d rather have a Jetta or a Camry (I know reliability plays a big role but just based on looks and brand cachet) and you can understand why the Jetta is selling as well as it is.
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vvk July 11th, 2011 at 1:51 pm Neither scenario, I believe. I think people just like the car on its own merits. They like the new design and the space and the value. I think many people look at the features and the size of the back seat/trunk and have Accord/Camry in mind when they look at the price.
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Nostrathomas July 11th, 2011 at 2:05 pm “whole lineup of manual-transmission subcompact diesel wagons with active aero and hand-sewn ostrich-leather interiors”
Sounds great, where I can I get this?
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jpolicke July 11th, 2011 at 2:12 pm The new base Jetta is a large car for the money. The styling isn’t bad. It’s nice enough for $17k, and sells like crazy when pitched to a lot of unsophisticated entry-level buyers who don’t know a rear disk from a compact disk. These people aren’t aware of all the content VW pulled out to hit their price point.
As much as I love my ’09 TDI I don’t know if I would buy another given the current crap interior and overall cheapening of the car. I suspect I’m not the only potential repeat customer who’s going to push back against paying more for less. As you move up to the higher trim levels it costs more than the old model.
Ironic that just when Chrysler got serious about upgrading interior quality to build sales while VW decided to take their place in the bargain basement. Stranger still is that fact that it seems to be working for both of them.
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Zackman July 11th, 2011 at 3:22 pm Interesting. Could it be many people WANT to like Chrysler again and MANY people believe VW’s are good, well-engineered, simple cars that will last forever?
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CJinSD July 11th, 2011 at 2:14 pm The success of the new Jetta says nothing about automotive journalism, everything about Volkswagen buyers. The new Jetta is a bigger piece of junk than the last four Jettas were, but that doesn’t matter at all to the sort of people that buy VWs. They just want a German badge they can afford to wear, and now it is more affordable than before. VW buyers don’t know themselves that well, claiming they were buying VWs for imagined superiority in subjective categories over the reliable competition. Now, VW has put their badges on a haphazardly constructed and engineered clone of a Kia Rio, and VW customers are happier than ever, because it will cost them even less to put on their German car driver costumes.
Login to reply vbofw July 11th, 2011 at 2:26 pm Wow! This comment serves as a good reminder the only thing more hyperbolic than auto journos, are the subsequent anonymous user comments under the post!
Login to reply th009 July 11th, 2011 at 2:37 pm To be expected from CJinSD though …
CJinSD July 11th, 2011 at 2:43 pm All I’m doing is putting what VW already knows into words. Why do you think they decided US VW buyers didn’t need rear suspension, brakes, or modern engines? They didn’t make the new interior out of recycled packing material because they respect their customers, they did it because they finally figured out the people that their cars appeal to. Now they’re going to mine that well of insecure posers with a vengeance, rolling out a bloated and decontented Passat. I’m guessing the success of the New Beetle all those years ago got them thinking about why they wasted their time trying to make good cars when their image was so much more commercially viable than their engineering capabilities.
cackalacka July 11th, 2011 at 5:10 pm “VW buyers don’t know themselves that well, claiming they were buying VWs for imagined superiority in subjective categories over the reliable competition.”
CJ, I know exactly what I am, a lifelong Honda driver that wanted a hot hatch. One that I can throw my girl and dog in, and tour Appalachia in. Not some soul-less, torque-less, coupe with a fart-can and Mugen stickers.
When I pass some gelled-up Honda/Acura driver, my “imagined superiority” is very real.
mike978 July 11th, 2011 at 4:04 pm From what I have read about 2% of buyers had the base engine. It is underpowered and uncompetitive but allowed a cheap entry price. Most companies do this – Hyundai’s Elantra has a cheapish base price but if you want a/c and other “basics” you pay $2000 more. The Focus Sedan S is a miniscule seller but allows a cheap list price to be used in adverts.
As for the Passat from what I have read on Edmunds (http://www.insideline.com/volkswagen/passat/2012/2012-volkswagen-passat-first-drive.html)it will have all round independent suspension with a multilink set up in the rear and the interior plastic quality is actually reasonable. So it is unfair to say the new Passat is just as decontented as the new Jetta. If people don`t like the Jetta there is still the Golf hatchback and Jetta sportswagen which are “Euro”
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Jellodyne July 11th, 2011 at 2:20 pm Who would have though Volkswagen could make a ton of money selling slow, cheap, minimally contented cars? I’m voting for Type 1 — I mean #1.
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night driver July 11th, 2011 at 2:26 pm Want to buy a Prius or a Civic Hybrid? At a discount? With no supply due to the Tsunami and the gas price rise? Fat chance.
The lack of supply for hybrids is absolutely driving Jetta TDI sales.
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stuntmonkey July 11th, 2011 at 2:26 pm Volkswagon = ‘People’s car, right?
VW headed for the hills, much the same way Audi did when they stopped making profits on affordable cars. I think this is about the realization that not everybody can be premium and that somebody has to sell to the masses, and the market is responding to that. Still, take a new Jetta Sportline in piano black… it still has a wiff of austere Audi-ness to it that the Asian cars don’t.
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Robert.Walter July 11th, 2011 at 2:41 pm Despite enjoying the overall article, I’m having a bit 0' trouble with the tense below:
“Yes, the 20004 R32 had incredible looks…” ;O)
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Jack Baruth July 11th, 2011 at 3:06 pm Contact the blogger whom I quoted, but I think you’ll find worse sins than that in the complete article…
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hifi July 11th, 2011 at 2:41 pm So what if sales are up over 60% versus the previous model? That’s a metric that we see a lot, and it’s a horrible one. Obviously the outgoing model’s sales are going to decline because buyers know that it’s an old car and are waiting for the replacement. So demand is pent-up. Plus…
- VW is marketing the hell out of the new model.
- The new one is much more affordable than the outgoing one.
My issue with VW’s strategy is that it isn’t maintainable. VW can’t compete on price, and will never be the bargain basement brand again. That’s what Hyundai/Kia do much better than anyone. After the initial glut of Jetta sales, things will level-off and VW will have to keep the sales going. But with all the negative reviews, along with the conspicuous “shift” in built quality, that will be tough for them to do.
What VW should do is continue to build the best mainstream cars they can, and build signature quality elements into every car so that they achieve an economy of scale that brings down the cost. It’s the “surprise-and-delight” things that VW has always done so well. They can’t be the cheapest, but they can be the best value.
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ajla July 11th, 2011 at 2:58 pm I think there has to be some level of positive VW brand reputation going on here.
It can’t just be price. The cheapest advertised price for a new automatic-equipped Jetta I can find within 200 miles of me is $18,130. That’s higher than what I could find for a comparable Forte, Cruze, Lancer, HHR, Elantra Touring, Patriot, and I’m sure a whole host of other vehicles.
It can’t even just be size/$, you can get an Impala or Mazda6 Sport for an advertised $18K-$20K (with EPA fuel economy ratings very close to the 2.0L Jetta) and those aren’t exactly flying off the retail shelves.
I suppose it is possible that he new Jetta is way better than reviews are making it out to be. I haven’t driven one yet.
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HiFlite999 July 11th, 2011 at 3:05 pm What does “de-contented” mean? One interpretation is that it means eliminating unnecessary “luxury” junk that serves no purpose other than to break expensively at some later time. The idea of a well-engineered, de-junked car has appeal. The C-Class in its earlier guises of the 190 reaching back the the 1950's was such a car, as was, say the Volvo 240 series. The sinking of the dollar made these simple cars luxury-priced in the USA, resulting in the “need” to offer them with luxury features. Mexican labor rates of $3.50/hr has allowed VW a window to re-introduce them to the US market. Whether in fact the new VW products are indeed well-engineered is open for debate, but that the general perception that they are is not. I suspect most customers for the Jetta are looking for this value.
Login to reply CJinSD July 11th, 2011 at 3:21 pm The Volvo 240 had 4 wheel disc brakes 35 years ago. Eliminate the touch screen, power seats, automatic transmission, self retracting side mirrors: absolutely. Eliminate the brakes and independent rear suspension? That is the opposite of the philosophy that guided spartan quality cars in the past.
Login to reply psarhjinian July 11th, 2011 at 3:34 pm You don’t need four-wheel disc brakes on an commodity front-drive economy car. Hell, you don’t need fully independent rear suspension, either.
There’s plenty of cars with rear drums that can post excellent single-stop numbers. Since they’re not doing track duty, that’s fine. Same with the rear suspension: a twist beam works well enough for marshmallow-mobiles like the Sienna; unlike a rear- or all-wheel drive vehicle, there’s enough independence for it to do it’s job**.
Both allow a lower price, less maintenance (drums withstand debris damage and don’t warp), better fuel economy (a twist beam weighs less). I don’t think your average buyer would notice the difference (I certainly couldn’t notice it in the Cruze and Cruze Eco), but they do notice a few hundred dollars in MSRP.
I’d say this is exactly the spartan quality car philosophy (in the Toyota Corolla sense of the word) in play: stripping away spec-sheet frippery in place of what people can actually feel, use, touch and pay for.
** which is why, say, the Matrix gets IRS in AWD trim
Bytor July 11th, 2011 at 3:37 pm The base engine in the new Jetta is something like a 20 year old design that pretty much sucks across the board, being both low HP and delivering mediocre efficiency.
115 HP/2.0L Iron block that gets 23/29 MPG with the AT…
I would say that is one serious piece of de-contenting. I understand not everyone is an enthusiast, but who buys a car with an engine with the power of 1.5L and the gas mileage of a 3.0L V6? VW should be embarrassed to even offer such dismal engine.
Login to reply CJinSD July 11th, 2011 at 4:04 pm I’d love to agree with you, but the 2.0 5-speed is the only Jetta I’ve seen tested that actually delivered good gas mileage. Yes, it was the slowest manual transmission test car in years, but it returned 29 mpg in Car and Driver’s hands. http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/10q4/2011_volkswagen_jetta_s-short_take_road_test
th009 July 11th, 2011 at 4:04 pm The basic engine design (EA111) actually dates back to 1974, when it debuted in the Audi 50. Mind you, there have been a few changes since then …
Somehow people are still choosing to buy the Jetta with the 2.0L evn though 2.5L and TDI (and soon 2.0T) are available. Are you calling those people fools, then?
Bytor July 11th, 2011 at 4:33 pm Sorry but you will have to better than a C&D one off getting 29MPG, to claim this is an efficient engine. That could have been doing 45mph on an empty back-road where a Mustang V6 would have got 40 MPG. It is completely meaningless and arbitrary as a point of comparison. EPA has some issues but it still serves as a basis for comparison.
Would I say someone is foolish choosing what is likely the worse engine on a new car today? No. But ill informed? Most definitely.
Zackman July 11th, 2011 at 3:12 pm Now I know why I liked the new Jetta at our auto show. Cars that enthusiasts fawn over (me included) all too often are not suitable as daily drivers – at least those in my age bracket. VW has apparently made the Jetta that an “everyman” or “everywoman” can live with day-to-day and not get paranoid about driving due to either a “sporty” (read: ‘rough’) ride wearing the driver out day after day, or having the option of an auto tranny so as not having to shift constantly in traffic. When I drive our MX5, it can be a real pain for me, literally in the back and/or my left leg if I do so more than a couple of days in a row. I’m sure the younger among us won’t feel that way. It is fun, though, just the same.
On the matter of “de-contenting”, I say: “good!” if it means buying a nice-looking car that I can have pride in that has just enough options to make it livable day to day. My Impala is like that. Just enough stuff and nothing I don’t need.
I still feel the secret to a successful car is that it looks good, has a bit of flash and makes you want to slip behind the wheel to take a spin and is, of course, reliable.
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DesmosDromos July 11th, 2011 at 3:20 pm A ’99 Passat wagon was the last car I bought new, I own an ’07 Passat and an ’08 R32 that were both bought used, I’ve driven an ’11 Jetta as a loaner/rental twice and my nephew just bought one. I feel qualified to comment on this topic (note: I may not be, but I FEEL qualified).
I think I’m mostly on board with scenario #1. Excepting the rich, who aren’t buying VW’s, I think value is the main factor and the new Jetta is competitive there. It also still carries some euro cachet that probably appeals to buyers. I still have to catch up with my nephew on his selection criteria. I was surprised he got one, but he’s not an auto enthusiast per se.
I say that as my first reaction to pulling one from the rental/loaner fleet while my car was in for service was less than enthusiastic. Drum rear brakes, hard plastics and a vanilla dashboard didn’t help. However, after putting about 300 miles on a couple of TDI sedans over a couple of days, I have to say it isn’t a bad car to drive. It lacks some of the upscale feel of the prior generation, but all the right feature boxes are checked and the price seems right.
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tallnikita July 11th, 2011 at 4:05 pm Jetta looks good and not weird – win against all the curvy/bulging Corollas and Civics. Those cars are hideous in comparison.
It’s a Jetta for the price that the Jetta should cost.
Leases are not really sales.
Win for Jetta.
spyked July 11th, 2011 at 5:08 pm Exactly. Make a reliable, safe, attractive car that is a good value, then actual buyers show up. The Jetta is in a class where, on the low end, the cars look like they should be running up alleys in India or Thailand (Corolla and Civic) or, on the high end, have questionable resale value and reliablity records while costing more (Cruze and Focus).
It’s not hard to see why the Jetta is selling right now, in this economy. It’s an honest simple car that offers everything an economy car buyer might need.
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jaje July 11th, 2011 at 5:26 pm Jetta is VW’s competitor to other compact cars and has to be able to compete on price. VW’s were always more expensive and frankly have quite a bad reputation for reliability driving away customers in droves to other imports and even Detroit. Now VW’s are much more price competitive helping them on the cost front…now just need to improve on the reliability front.
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dror July 11th, 2011 at 5:51 pm I just wonder, when was the last time you looked at the eyes of that Patriot/Chraysler 200/Sebring/Compass/Avenger driver and asked him why?
There are so many cars on the market, why this?
Now, when you see a Jetta driver, please ask him why? don’t you read the paper? did you look at consumer report lately? do you really thing that in Europe they drive the same thing?
After 8 years or more of first generation Focus, I don’t think anybody care anymore.
gglockster July 11th, 2011 at 6:08 pm I didn’t buy an 05 Jetta TDi because it was German. I bought it because I had a Passet diesel rental station wagon for 2 months in Germany and kicked the stuffing out of it on the Autobahn. I feel people now buy new VW’s because they are cheap (not inexpensive but plastic cheap) and think they are getting a good deal.
I’ll hang onto my Jetta until it dies but I will never buy another VW. The VW sale staff are jerks. The best way to ruin a VW is to take it in for dealer service. The grease monkeys in the service department cannot even put the dipstick back in (happened twice). Five recalls in six years. Life is too short for me to return as a VW/Audi buyer.
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stryker1 July 11th, 2011 at 6:33 pm the truth about cars indeed!
My brother is one of those few who bought a brand new TDI. It’s a fantastic car in every sense.
sushytom July 11th, 2011 at 7:55 pm Good editorial. I wish I could disagree with it, but I can’t.
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threeer July 11th, 2011 at 8:01 pm Too bad the reliability history of VW is so abysmal…a smartly styled and lightly gizmo-d sedan with more buttoned-down driving dynamics would be exaclty what my 67 year old mother would prefer (trying to talk her into a new C-class for her last car she’ll ever buy, but am afraid it’ll be “too much” for her). The Jetta would be ideal in size, style and driving manners…but having a hard time reconciling the overall quality and longevity of VW…sigh. If they had done this 5 years ago and had a great track record, it’d be a slam dunk. But I have to say, I am seeing quote a few new Jettas out on the road…
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Philosophil July 11th, 2011 at 8:17 pm Jack, you are generally very good at posing interesting (and provocative) questions.
I think it’s #1 as well, but I also think the Jetta is actually a decent car for most people’s purposes. Most people in North America don’t need a suspension capable of maintaining the road at Autobahn speeds, nor do most people who would buy a car like a Jetta need rear disc brakes (as Psar rightly pointed out).
I also think Jack may be onto something when he notes that most of the people who buy new cars may not be ‘car-magazine-enthusiasts,’ but may fall into a different demographic (with many so-called ‘enthusiasts’ tending more towards the used-car market–great deal, get an upscale car for a more affordable price, and so on).
Finally, I should point out that not all automotive journalists panned the Jetta. Some such as Sam Moses actually praised it to the hilt–”All-new version brings fresh styling and superb execution”– (though maybe reviews such as his don’t count as true ‘journos’ in the sense being used here).
http://www.newcartestdrive.com/review-intro.cfm?Vehicle=2011_Volkswagen_Jetta&ReviewID=4843
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Dynamic88 July 11th, 2011 at 8:35 pm #1a – Sign and Drive.
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