It’s like an Arteon if you squint.
Buying trends may be moving away from the traditional saloon car, but that’s not going to stop Volkswagen from giving one of its strongest family saloons, the Jetta, a much-needed full-model replacement, heralding a more advanced, more sophisticated future for the long-standing nameplate. The Jetta may be about to receive its 6th generation since it first arrived in 1970, but it appears that not much will change insofar as packaging is concerned.
While the Jetta will receive a sleeker, more aerodynamic profile, it’s clear from the design that the basic proportions of the car haven’t been messed around with too much. That should mean decent, if not remarkable levels of head-, leg-, and knee-room for passengers all round, while rolling refinement could be improved thanks to that slippery body. What is clear is that the Jetta will not be downplaying its MQB-Platform roots too much, carrying with it traits of both the new Golf up front, as well as a hint of Audi A3 at the rear.
The sketched profile seen here was shown briefly ahead of a prototype test drive in Arizona, and confirms previous reports that the Jetta will receive a far more contemporary, more “emotional” design, far from the stoicism we’ve come to expect from the Wolfsburg marque. That ‘emotion’ will likely be intensified as the Jetta receives more powerful, driver-focused (ish) variants after launch, like the R-Line and the GLI.
It’s posited that the Jetta will retain the 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol mill as before, though it’ll now come with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Power will likely be bumped up slightly (just slightly), and prices will also see a similar upward trend.
Little else is known about the 2018 Volkswagen Jetta at this point, though we can look at the present-day Golf Mk7.5 as a good indication.
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