The mk2 Jetta is a stalwart of the Chinese automotive industry, it was one of the first mass produced vehicles that private Chinese buyers could buy but that didn’t stop it from flooding into fleet service, the humble Jetta is used all over China by a wide variety of users. The introduction of the New Jetta, based on the Polo platform and in sedan form only it is the sister car to the Skoda Rapid and New Santana also. Chinese manufacturers love to receive new technologies from their joint venture partners but also loath to throw out perfectly usable platforms, such as the MK2 Jetta’s PQ32 platform which was born in 1982.

The Mk2 Jetta (or Jie Da in Chinese) has been on the Chinese market since 1991 and seen three facelifts in its Chinese life time. According to Chinese media reports the Old Jetta will be pushed into a new low cost brand name for the Chinese market, with senior FAW-VW management already in Germany talking over the brand name. The PQ32 platform will be re-used by FAW-VW to create potentially four new vehicles under a new brand, with the new vehicles being two compact sedans, an MPV and also a compact goods vehicle.

Automotive manufacturers have been eager to open third and fourth tier city markets that are expected to have a demand of some 3.5 million vehicles per year in the near future, with the spare parts network for the Jetta range already being extremely widespread across China thanks to its fleet history, economy buyers in rural China will appreciate the low cost buy in price and low running costs.