Forget the Reviews... It's Business as Usual

CAR OF THE WEEK



A little delayed, and a little biased. Well, too bad on both. Every single review I hear, both from paid and unpaid critics, preaches the same thing on the new Jetta... Bland styling, bigger car, not a Jetta. Wrong, right, wrong. Although the car has grown up a little bit and is now designed to compete against premium compacts and entry level midsize sedans, it does NOT have bland styling and certainly IS a Jetta.

Start over. That's exactly what VW engineers did when they got their hands on this car, they started over and went back to the drawing board. Although the styling of the vehicle has drastically changed, the German look is still there and the German build quality certainly remains. Smooth, quiet, responsive, elegant, functional, practical, safe, beautiful. Just a few choice words from yours truly. Now offering a new suspension, new gasoline engines, new steering system, new technology packages, and new transmissions to name a few, the new Jetta is a viable competitor and sure to be a segment leader shortly.

Take that back, it already is. The new Jetta is the only, yes that's right, only sedan to ace the side impact crash test ratings from the IIHS. No other sedan on the market comes close. Will be leading? Already there.

This brings me to the car of the week, the new Jetta GLI as pictured above. The Jetta sport model (yes I have driven it), is very impressive. Standard sport suspension, new 2.0L FSI (Fuel Straight Injected) engine, 6 speed manual transmission, and optional 6 speed automatic DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) transmission. Also notice 17" standard wheels, 18" optional (pictured), sport seats, different interior trim, and honeycomb black with red trim sport grille. All a nice combo.

BTW, car is selling great against all the odds and bad reviews based on appearance. Nyah, nyah, nyah...