Volkswagen Jetta History
History
Introduced for 1980 as a trunked sedan version of the Golf, the Jetta gave US buyers a more conventional three-box shape and became Volkswagen's best-selling model in the United States.
Across seven generations it has shared platforms and engines with the Golf, including the sporty GLI — effectively a Jetta-bodied GTI — and the high-mileage TDI diesel. // Source: Wikipedia "Volkswagen Jetta" — US since MY1980; now in its 7th generation (A7, 2019–present). Per-generation boundaries kept out of this summary prose.
Body styles
- Sedan
- Wagon (SportWagen / Sportwagen)
Notable special editions & performance variants
-
GLI
The performance Jetta — the sedan counterpart to the Golf GTI, sharing its turbocharged (later) engine and sport suspension. // Source: VW US media / CarBuzz — first US Jetta GLI was MY1984.
-
Jetta TDI
Turbocharged-diesel Jetta known for high fuel economy; affected by the 2015 diesel-emissions scandal.
Related models