18 Aug 05
Remember the Bora, the Golf with a boot stuck on the back? Well, the fifth and latest generation Golf has just gained its latest saloon version. Only this time around, it's called the Jetta, bringing VW's naming practice back in line with the U.S., where booted (trunked?) Golfs have always been called Jettas, and reviving the name used in Europe before the last Bora anyway. The Jetta name will be used in most countries, except for China and other markets where versions of the old Jetta continue in production, where it will be called, you guessed it, Bora. Don't ask...
This latest-generation Bora - sorry, Jetta - looks uncannily like a 7/8ths scale version of the recently launched Passat. From the back in particular, observers will be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the two. That said, VW doesn't believe the new Jetta will poach a significant number of Passat customers. It should, though, give those buyers looking at the very cheapest Passats cause for pause, as an absolute boggo Jetta will come in about £1000 cheaper than the steel-wheeled Passat S, but will have more standard equipment such as alloy wheels. With an on-sale date of February 2006, UK prices haven't been announced yet, but expect the entry-level 1.6-litre 115bhp Jetta to start from around £14,000.
VW expect UK buyers to take about 8000 Jettas per year, which is a pretty small number at this end of the market. You'd wonder why they'd bother, but when asked, VW reps simply say 'America'. In that part of the world, the Jetta has always been something of a cult car and is, indeed, the most popular European import of all. Even though we should take that fact with a grain of salt, as most 'European' cars sold in the U.S. are premium models from the likes of Audi and BMW, VW has managed to shift a colossal 2.2 million Jettas in the U.S. since its 1980 launch. And 6.6 million have been sold worldwide, so the notion of sticking a few thousand right-hookers our way must have seemed like a casual afterthought. Still, those company buyers faced with a fixed fleet choice could well regard the Jetta as a welcome, slightly upmarket alternative to the usual Vectra and Mondeo choices.
