When the Volkswagen Golf launched in 1974, it quickly became not only one of the most popular cars in its class, but in the whole market. It was lauded as one of the best cars ever made and enjoyed success worldwide. However, Volkswagen noticed that sales were low in the United States, where the market favoured the sedan body shape. As such, Volkswagen decided to come up with a solution to increase sales.
Volkswagen decided that it would build a traditional three-box sedan based on the Golf platform. This would be done lengthening the Golf’s chassis and adding a rear section to the back of the existing Golf body. As with the Passat and the Golf, the design work on the Passat was done by the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign. Since it was based on the Golf, most of the equipment in the new car was similar to the Golf.
The Jetta was released to the public in April of 1979, with production starting in Wolfsburg in August of the same year. The Jetta was offered as a 2-door or 4-door sedan. Engines ranged from 1.1-litres to 1.8-litres, all inline 4-cylinders. Volkswagen also offered two diesel engines, and there were three transmissions available: 4- or 5-speed manuals or a 3-speed automatic.
The Jetta was not particularly popular in Europe, where hatchbacks were extremely popular. However, in the US and across North America, the Passat became a bestseller. As hatchbacks were not yet popular in the US, a smaller, more economical sedan sat perfectly in the line-up below the bigger Passat. In fact, by the end of its production run, the first-generation Passat became the bestselling European car in America.
The huge sales figures in the United States made up for the lack of sales in Europe. Due to this, Volkswagen decided to release a second-generation Passat in 1984. The Passat continued to be bestseller in the US for nearly 40 years. However, due to the rise of SUVs in recent years, sedan sales declined in the US, resulting in Volkswagen ending production of the Jetta in the US in 2022. With over 14 million models sold worldwide, the Jetta is not only one of the bestselling cars in Volkswagen’s line-up, but in fact one of the bestselling cars of all time.
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