This is a Jetta VS7, a mid-size crossover SUV that is only sold in China. It is a nice-looking car, but not overly exciting, perhaps a bit boring. The car that I met was painted in a color called (translated) Aromatherapy Ash.
‘Jetta’ is a sub-brand under the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture, launched in 2019. The idea was to create a line of affordable cars, capitalizing on the popularity of the Jetta name. The Volkswagen brand would then have space to move upmarket.
Sadly for Volkswagen, the plan hasn’t worked out. Jetta started with 3 cars in 2019, and they still sell just 3 cars today: the Jetta VA3 (the original Volkswagen Jetta), the Jetta VS5 crossover, and the Jetta VS7 (based on the Seat Terraco. Seat is an originally Spanish brand under the VW Group).
Chinese consumers just don’t know what to make of Jetta, and sales have been slow. In October 2023, Jetta only sold 12.510 cars, only good enough for the 37th position in the sales chart. The Jetta VS7 was launched in 2019 and hasn’t been updated since.
The interior is not bad, with fancy red-black seats and nice trim. The VS7 has a thick steering wheel and a 10-inch touchscreen. The VS7 is a five-seat car, sized 4624/1841/1624, with a 2730 wheelbase.
The company uses a styled ‘J’ as its logo. Characters on the left: 一汽-大众, Yiqi-Dazhong, FAW-Volkswagen. The Jetta VS7 is a front-wheel drive car. Power comes from Volkswagen’s tested, tried, and tired 1.4 turbo TSI. This locally-made motor has served, and still serves, in many China-made VW Group cars. Output never changes much. In the VS7, it delivers 150 hp and 250 Nm. The gearbox, don’t laugh, is a 6-speed manual. The top speed is 180 km/h, 0-100 takes 9.8 seconds, and fuel consumption is 6.6 liters per 100 kilometers.
This was the first VS7 I saw in Beijing, so I was quite excited, even though it isn’t an exciting car. It is a decent car, with a decent design, for a decent price. One could call it cheap, with prices starting at just 100.900 yuan today ($13.8K). That’s not bad, but that same money buys you a fancy Chinese-brand EV these days. There is a reason these don’t sell… I bet that the Jetta brand will be quietly killed off within the next two years or so. Nice try, Volkswagen. Next time, come up with something better, please.