Click image to view larger version

VOLKSWAGEN JETTA
Somewhere between a cute hatchback and a traditional sedan, a re-invented marketing strategy

It might be a newcomer to the Middle East, but head-on, you'd mistake the Jetta for the Golf. Which is a good thing, because the Golf is a good looking, powerful and very desirable car. Move around to the back, though, and you'll see that the Jetta sports the traditional three-box sedan design. Which means that it is a little less cute than, and a little more practical than the Golf. And that isn't a bad thing at all.

The Jetta was developed due in part to the Volkswagen marketing group's observation that the North American market leaned more towards sedans as opposed to the Golf's hatchback configuration. It proved to be a good strategy. The Jetta became the best-selling European car in the United States (it sold more than 2.2mn units since its introduction 25 years ago), and has proved to be more popular than its hatchback brother in South Africa.

Although traditional, the Jetta is undeniably good looking, with beautifully sculpted frontal curves and large, tapering headlights. The interiors sport similar toned-down sophistication. The best parts, as always, aren't the optional wood trim and brushed aluminium inserts, but the little details offered as standard. Our favourite was the little metal dual-sided bottle opener, which slid in between the seats, doubling up as a separator in the cup holder. The centre console is like the rest of the design: easy enough to navigate without an explanation required. It is that sort of thought that makes Volkswagens different, of course. Form follows function, and function is designed to bring joy. The earliest tagline for the company is as applicable to it now as it was almost 70 years ago: ‘kraft durch freude.’ That literally translates from German into 'strength through joy.'

So where will all this get you? You'll have to push down hard to find out, if you choose the only version available here right now, the 1.6-litre. Starting from a standstill, it's obvious that this is a car not meant to be thrashed around the tarmac. Instead, console yourself with the smooth drive and easy refinement of an engine that won't whine even when you push down hard.

The Jetta does everything you need it to around city streets – and yet, there’s something classic about a Volkswagen that purists will find lacking. This is, after all, the company that brought the world the Beetle and Herbie. Everyone fell in love: the customers, kids at the cinema and the advertising world, revelling in classic campaigns that are still marketing case studies today. Although its engineering and quiet dependability satisfied everyone from Hitler to hippies, its unique looks and personality were what would rocket the Beetle to superstardom. There is no arguing with The Bug: it created its own style and set its own standards, developing a cult status and fan following across the globe, spanning generations.

Can the Jetta live up to such iconic status? Certainly not. But then again, it isn't designed to. What it is is a good, solid, well engineered sedan that you wouldn't mind driving the family in. Its electronic stability program incorporates electronic differential lock and traction control systems that intervene, if necessary, in the brake and engine management systems to prevent the vehicle breaking away. There's ABS, of course, and longitudinal and transverse reinforcement on the body that stabilises the passenger cell. You can feel such wholesome European engineering in the weight of the doors as they thump shut.

Such technology is a far cry from the old days when Volkswagen built up its reputation. But car critics still insist that the Jetta, like its predecessors, possesses the uncanny ability to keep the driver in touch with every undulation and irregularity on the road without sacrificing comfort. Such thoughts are remarkable in that they echo the earliest customer satisfaction ratings that made the German carmaker an icon. One of its earliest tag lines was 'Aus Liebe zum Automobil,' translating into 'for love of the car.' We're not sure whether the Jetta warrants such absolute emotional abandon, but there's only one way to find out – go ahead and book your test drive.