Small cars are big right now, especially in the US as fuel prices rise anew. Toyota and Honda continue to dominate this, the second largest segment for new cars, but a new Ford Focus, in particular, should give the Civic replacement and the recently facelifted Corolla a harder time of it in 2011. Recently, however, Volkswagen‘s new Jetta has created what is effectively an extra vehicle class between the compact and mid-sized categories. Rivals should be worried as Volkswagen of America is clearly on to something.
As well as being far larger than its predecessor, the 2011 model year Volkswagen Jetta is easily the biggest model in the class in which it competes. The US Environmental Protection Agency, which long ago laid down a categorisation formula based on interior dimensions, classes the Jetta as a compact. Yet, as many cross-shopping buyers are finding out, this is not a small car. At 4,628cm (182.2″) bumper-to-bumper – 18cm longer than a (2011) Focus – it is also fully 31cm longer than the Chevrolet Cruze.
Volkswagen’s new Jetta has created what is effectively an extra vehicle class between the compact and mid-sized categories.
Buyers who compare compact class cars seem to be discovering that the Jetta offers a lot of metal for the money. Volkswagen of America has greatly helped the vehicle’s chances of success by pricing it without the usual premium over the class leaders. The results speak for themselves: November sales for the smaller Cruze totalled only 8,066 units, whereas Volkswagen sold 8,955 Jetta sedans (11,153 including the Jetta wagon). And month for month, the trend is favouring Volkswagen, not General Motors.
Hyundai – which, like Volkswagen, has never been a leading player in the compact class – seems also to be thinking like its German rival. The all-new Elantra will soon enough not only be US-built for the first time, but at 4,530cm long, is large for the class. Its 2,700mm wheelbase also makes it enormously roomy. Unlike the Jetta, there are short overhangs front and rear. Hyundai has therefore come up with a different packaging approach, but its aim is the same: to catch big-car buyers trading down or those who might be tempted by the thought of something other than another Civic or Corolla.
Buyers who compare compact class cars seem to be discovering that the Jetta offers a lot of metal for the money.
What then might be the implications of this potentially major new segment? The Camry will end the year as the US market’s best selling car, yet has had a tough 2010. It is getting close to the end of its lifecycle, as is the Accord. Ford’s Fusion, though hardly fresh, has been gaining on both; GM’s Chevrolet Malibu is old and fading, but the Nissan Altima and Hyundai’s (US-built) Sonata are steadily ratcheting themselves closer to the class’s sales leaders.
Come 2011 and Volkswagen’s forthcoming, US-made NMS sedan will also be aiming to go after the Camry and Accord. Considering the thinking behind the latest Jetta, it will likely be the largest model in the class – bigger even than the almost five-metre long Accord V6. It seems that Volkswagen of America, and Hyundai too, could well be the segment-busters of 2011.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Automotive World Ltd.
