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Volkswagen bulks up its Jetta for American market
Volkswagen has a new answer to the American demand for larger
cars for lease. The automaker hopes to seize a beefier share of the U.S. market by building bigger vehicles.
The core of that strategy is a still unnamed "new midsize sedan," intended to compete with Toyota's Camry and Honda's Accord, according to Motor Trend magazine.
In the meantime, Volkswagen has launched the 2011 Jetta, which fills a gap between the company's Golf and Passat lines. The new Jetta is three-and-a-half inches longer than last year's model, which adds 2.6 inches of extra stretching space for rear-set legroom.
Another part of the bid for broader market share is price. Buyers in every market are more cost conscious in the wake of the economic recession, so Volkswagen sliced $1700 off the price tag of its new Jetta. Selling the car at $16,000 could help the company win over drivers of the Toyota Camry and Honda Civic, as well as the Ford Fiesta and Mazda2, the magazine said.
If the larger-and-cheaper strategy produces real sales results over the coming year, drivers could see even more changes from VW. The company may wade further into direct competition with the mighty Honda Civic by launching a "new compact coupe," first shown as a concept car at last year's Detroit auto show.
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