Solid sedan among the best in class
Volkswagen is the world’s largest automaker, rich and powerful beyond the dreams of avarice, but the German powerhouse’s execs could be excused if they sometimes feel like a cartoon character about to get an anvil dropped on its head.
The 2019 Jetta is the company’s best compact sedan by far, a car that should make VW a musthave for the average North American buyer. Except. The mostly marvelous new Jetta arrives at the exact moment when car shoppers have turned their backs on compact sedans, abandoning what used to be a massive market segment in favour of taller, hipper small SUVs.
Don’t cry for VW. It also builds small SUVs, so it’s not shut out of the boom, but the Jetta is the car the company had been promising for decades: a good value with Germanic handling and a handsome new design.
The Jetta is entirely new for 2019. Like the Golf hatchback, it rides on VW’s MQB platform, an elaborate set of parts and systems that will eventually underpin a wide variety of compact and midsize cars and SUVs.
The Jetta competes with compact cars such as the Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte, Nissan Sentra, Subaru Impreza and Toyota Corolla.
All Jettas come with a 147-hp 1.4-litre turbocharged engine. The very good eight-speed automatic is standard on all models above the base S.
The Jetta’s fuel economy in real-world driving is very good. I averaged 37.3 mpg on a long drive that included hot, heavy air, constant air conditioner use, hilly countryside, traffic jams and long highway runs with the cruise control set near the 120 km/h speed limit.
The new sedan is quiet and comfortable on the highway, with little road noise, comfortable seats and plenty of storage bins. The controls are very easy to use, with a touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and dials and buttons for oft-used functions such as volume, tuning, fan and temperature.
Passenger and luggage room are good, and there are plenty of cubbies and bins for cups, glasses and the like.
The small engine delivers good acceleration around town, thanks to 184 lb.-ft. of torque available from just 1,400 rpm and quick upshifts from VW’s smooth eight-speed transmission.
The Jetta’s steering is firm and precise, perfectly in tune with a suspension that combines a smooth ride with responsive handling.
The 2019 Jetta is longer, wider and much better looking than its predecessors. The exterior has a fast-sloping rear window, crisp character lines and a wide chrome grille that sweeps dramatically into the headlights for a striking departure from VW’s usual restrained styling.
The touchscreen’s display mirrors an iPhone’s vivid colours when you’re using CarPlay, but reverts to a grainy B&W display like a 1980s videogame when controlling the car’s built-in functions. It’s enough to make you fear a message saying “You have died of dysentery” around every corner.
The little 1.4L turbo four-cylinder engine develops its rated 147 hp and 184 lb.-ft. with regular gasoline, a major improvement over VW’s long habit of making its owners pay for premium to get the advertised power and fuel economy.
The Jetta’s fuel-economy rating of 30 mpg in the city, 40 on the highway and 34 combined makes it one of the most efficient compact sedans. The key 34-mpg combined rating beats all the competitors I’ve named except the Civic, which scored 36 mpg.
If this were a cartoon, a giant anvil would fall from the sky, crushing the truck delivering new Jettas. But this is the real world, and 2019 Jettas are arriving at VW dealers now. Stop by and see for yourself why they give North America’s favourite small cars a run for their money.