The Volkswagen Jetta is a compact car, produced by German automaker Volkswagen Group for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars marque since 1979. Positioned to fill a saloon/sedan niche above the firm's Golf hatchback offering, it has been marketed over six generations variously as the Atlantic, Fox, Vento, Bora, City Jetta, Jetta City, GLI, Jetta, and Sagitar.
The Jetta was originally adapted by adding a conventional trunk to the Golf hatchback, and some distinctive styling (usually the front end, and sometimes slight interior changes). It has been offered in two- and four-door saloon (sedan), and five-door estate (station wagon) versions - all as five-seaters. As of 2005, over 6.6 million cars have been sold worldwide, over one-third in the United States alone. Since the original version in 1980, the car has grown in size and power with each successive generation. By mid 2011, almost 10 million Jettas have been produced and sold all over the world.
The Jetta nameplate is a reference to the Atlantic 'jet stream', reflecting the period in Volkswagen's history when it named its vehicles after prominent winds. These also included the Volkswagen Passat (after the German word for trade wind), Volkswagen Bora (after bora), and Volkswagen Scirocco (after sirocco).
Read more about Volkswagen Jetta: First Generation (A1, Typ 16), Second Generation (A2, Typ 16; 1G), Third Generation (A3, Typ 1H), Fourth Generation (A4, Typ 1J), Fifth Generation (A5, Typ 1K), Sixth Generation (A6, Typ 1B), Alternative Propulsion Cars, Awards and Recognition, Motorsport, 2011 Recall