The Volkswagen Jetta was an afterthought. Back in the late 1970s VW was riding on a wave of solid sales for the Golf hatchback. As the company that milked the obsolete Beetle for all it could, it was natural that one day it would look at the Golf and ask itself: How can we squeeze some more sales out of this thing? The Volkswagen Jetta was the answer.
The first Volkswagen Jetta appeared for the 1980 model year and really wasn't much more than a Golf with a trunk welded to its rear. Amazingly, due mostly to Giorgetto Giugiaro's brilliant design of the Golf, the VW Jetta didn't look hideous. And buyers who liked the Golf for its nimble handling and miserly ways but wanted a conventional trunk, now had a reason to shop at the VW stores. That first Volkswagen Jetta was a hit.
Through the ensuing years, VW hasn't dared screw with the Volkswagen Jetta formula. All the generations of Jettas since that first one have been Golfs with trunks. After all, the public has been happily buying the Volkswagen Jetta and not complaining much about it.
Virtually every engine VW makes has eventually made it into the Volkswagen Jetta. There have been four-cylinder Jettas, six-cylinder Jettas, turbocharged Jettas, diesel Jettas and Jettas with advanced turbocharged diesels. As a general rule, whatever engines are being offered in the Golf are also being shoved in the Jetta.
The sportiest Volkswagen Jetta models have generally worn the letters "GLI" as the rough equivalent of the Golf-based GTI. So for buyers who are enthusiasts of both trunks and the GTI, the GLI (which VW considers a separate model and not a Jetta) is a good choice.
Despite how closely the Volkswagen Jetta relates to the Golf, it has also carved out an image of its own. The Golf still carries the stigma of an economy car. But the Jetta seems somehow a bit more sophisticated than that and more, well, luxurious. Much of that is just a sort of inchoate perception...but perception matters and the Volkswagen Jetta is generally seen as more than just a Golf with a trunk.
