Promised for the third quarter of this year, the restyled Volkswagen Jetta finally appears in tests in the GLI sports version. The sedan will receive a slight half-life renovation, changing the design and receiving more equipment. The brand itself has confirmed that the car produced in Mexico will be updated later this year, but the debut in Brazil should only happen next year.
Looking closely at the photos, it seems that the engineers didn’t want to hide too much of the Volkswagen Jetta GLI. The bumper has been redesigned to receive an air diffuser and the honeycomb-style lower intake appears to have larger holes than the current model. The upper grille hasn’t changed anything other than receiving the modernized VW logo.
At the rear, the bumper is different and even appears to be temporary, as it uses adhesives and is out of proportion to the exhaust outlets. Another detail that shows that it is hiding the real lines is the red element that imitates the reflectors, which on the left side is very wide, and on the right, only a small part appears. In the case of exhaust, VW can leave to equip the sedan with the definitive part at another time.
Despite appearing on the streets, our photographers were unable to take images of the interior and the distance of the photos does not allow us to see any more obvious details. The most likely is that Volkswagen does not move much in the cabin, updating only some of the equipment, mainly safety, to follow the trend in the segment.
We also don’t expect any changes under the hood. The Jetta GLI should follow with the 2.0 turbo four-cylinder, delivering 230 hp and 35.7 km of torque. In the case of the North American market, it will continue with the automatic transmission of dual-clutch and 7 speeds, or a 6-position manual, while the version exported to Brazil will not abandon the 6-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
After the presentation of the restyled Volkswagen Jetta in the 3rd quarter, the manufacturer is expected to start sales of the midsize sedan at the end of the year, if the semiconductor shortage does not force a change in the schedule. In any case, don’t expect to see the Jetta in Brazil this year, as production in Mexico will serve North America first and the brand should wait for the current model to run out at dealerships.
