VW's New US Compact Sedan to Bear Jetta Nameplate

Volkswagen has really high expectations from the United States and, as a result, the company will introduce several new models in this particular side of the market. Besides plans to increase sales from 220,000 units to 800,000 units per year by 2018, Volkswagen will also introduce some new models, especially tweaked to comply with the US market's requirements.

VW U.S. CEO Stefan Jacoby told caranddriver.com that the new compact sedan, due to be released in June 2010, will be called Jetta and will be also sold in Europe in the last months of next year. Still, Volkswagen hasn't decided whether the European model will be called the same or will use a different nameplate.

The Passat will continue to be offered, the aforementioned source noted, with a facelift prepared for 2010. The Polo is also in track for the United States but, given the current market conditions in the country, Volkswagen might indeed launch it next year. The Tiguan and the Eos, in both European and US versions, will receive an upgrade next year to comply with the company's new design line.

The Phaeton will stay outside the United States for the time being, even if it is slated to be refreshed in mid-2010. Still, the next-generation, likely to arrive in 2014, might return to the country, Jacoby said.

"The United States is one of the most important markets of the future for the Volkswagen Group. Our goal is to participate in the anticipated recovery on the US auto market and to achieve significant growth," Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann, Member of the Board of Volkswagen AG with responsibility for 'Group Production', said earlier this year.