There has never been a heavy industrial product that, with just a two-word name, the whole of China can immediately brainstorm its appearance, product features and **** the same memories.
You know I'm talking about the ? Jetta? Only the Jetta, such a simple and unadorned but y popular automobile product, can be rooted in the national memory across three generations, witnessing China's civilian car industry from scratch, from there to the strong 30 years, and ultimately from a car to a brand.
The Volkswagen brand has always loved to use the name "wind". The name of the wind?
It's a strong, powerful, high-altitude stream that looks narrow, but can stretch for tens of thousands of kilometers, as strong and continuous as the Jetta's history in the Volkswagen Group.
Starting out as a three-box version of the Golf, the Jetta's outstanding track record in the world's major automotive markets led to it becoming a strong family of cars on its own, and eventually taking root in the Chinese market as a standalone Volkswagen Group brand.
Strength is the most important link here.
Nurturing period: where the dream begins
From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the mid-20th century, China's industrial base was very weak, until we won a long period of peaceful development of the country through a stirring struggle in the northeast and the support of the northern allies in industrialization, 156 large-scale industrial aid projects became the first seeds of the industrialization of the new China.
The period of high-speed development began in 1978, when China widely adopted the ? The first phase of the development of China's industrialization was the opening up of a number of coastal ports. strategy, opened up a number of coastal ports and set up special economic zones, the foreign companies introduced at that time eventually became the catalyst for China's economy, their names include? Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, KFC, Pierre & Giovanni, Panasonic, IBM, and many others. Kardan, Panasonic, IBM, General Electric. Motorola and so on.
The first companies to enter China admittedly enjoyed a lot of preferential policy dividends, but in fact were also the biggest bearers of risk. China's pace in these nascent industries was still very slow, and the supply chain had not been cultivated at all, so these large companies played the role of pioneering cattle.
Budding Period: The First Generation of Domestic Jetta (1991-1997)FAW-Volkswagen, founded on February 6, 1991, was inevitably the biggest star of the show. It was a heavy industrial project that ultimately involved thousands of companies upstream and downstream, and millions of people. The sapling of industrialization, which had been accumulated for nearly 40 years at that time, nurtured FAW-Volkswagen step by step into a heavy industrial giant of the world's civilization. As a reference, FAW-Volkswagen's new car production in 2020 is as high as 2.07 million units, more than the entire car production of France, Europe's traditional industrial powerhouse, for an entire year.
And the official starting point for the above greatness is the first generation of the domestically produced Jetta, based on the Jetta A2 (Jetta MK2).
Adolescence: a major facelift? King Jetta? (1997-2004)
1997 Asian financial crisis, the reform and opening up of 20 years of rapid economic development of the results may be a shot to clear the stage, China decisively adopted a proactive fiscal policy, so that the economy ? soft landing? From this period, the population of China's major cities through a large number of industrially produced food and clothing to solve the problem of food and clothing, began to shift to low-frequency consumer goods such as housing and automobiles, and through the structural changes in demand to promote changes in the industrial structure.
This is the second stage after the reform and opening up, FAW-Volkswagen followed the trend and launched the Jetta overhaul? Jetta King. At that time, the Jetta King was positioned in the same class of high-end, with core technology to go, not many competitors in the Chinese market. The overall quality of this group of joint venture competitors was not bad, because at that time, the entire group of joint venture brands were dominant in terms of quality and sales, and formed a technological crushing of independent brands. It is not easy for Jetta to achieve good sales in such a competitive situation.
The Chinese market has a very unique naming habit, which likes to name a product that outperforms its peers as the "XX King? . For example, a CD player with a high success rate in reading disks is called Laser King, a diesel car with a strong fuel-saving ability is called Diesel King, shrimp dumplings with a particularly large number of fresh shrimp are called Shrimp Dumplings King, a telephoto digitizer with a strong zoom ability is called Zoom King, and a ham sausage with a lot of meat grains is called King Gong Wangzhong King? Therefore, why can it be called? Jetta King? , it is self-evident.
Starting in 1997, FAW-Volkswagen began producing the ? Jetta King? sedan, which, in addition to upgrades in appearance, safety, comfort and other features, has the biggest highlight of the 20V gasoline engine.
This 1.6L 4-cylinder naturally aspirated engine belonging to the EA113 series changes SOHC to DOHC, 8V to 20V, 5 valves per cylinder, 3 intake and 2 exhaust, and greatly improves the efficiency of gas distribution, which is what players call ? five-valve car ?
The air intake has been improved, combustion efficiency has been improved (which was considered high in the late 90's), power output has been improved, and fuel consumption has been reduced to 5.9L/100km while also reducing exhaust emissions.
Together with the new multi-point electronically controlled injection technology, the Jetta 20V engine has a peak torque of 150N?m and a maximum power of 74kW, which translates into German horsepower of ? As high as ?101PS, 101 horsepower to promote 1.12 tons easily, in that era is very fierce, on 140km / h play like, the manufacturer's standard top speed of 181km / h, in fact, the highest can be rushed to 195km / h.
In 2007 flat light Jetta King before, there have been a number of square light 20V Jetta appeared, and this batch of Jetta is currently being speculated at a very high price. Some owners have blown the King Jetta to 400PS German horsepower? Friends who know what they are doing should know that it is the FMC & Craftsman? s work, Lee Mouse also changed it to rear-wheel drive.
After more than twenty years, the Jetta King is still so popular, that's because in 1997, a Jetta King with top end to land about 120,000 yuan, in Guangzhou, you can easily buy a two rooms and a hall, but did not prevent the Jetta family to become the country's best-selling car series. It was not an ordinary family that could afford to drive a Jetta King at that time.
On August 14, 1998, the first ABS-equipped Jetta King rolled off the production line, which was the first time that ABS had been installed in large quantities on an A-class sedan in China.
On November 19, 1998, the 4AT-equipped Jetta City Pioneer? Jetta Urban Pioneer? came off the production line, becoming the first domestic Jetta model equipped with an automatic transmission.
On February 7, 2001, the first Jetta interior modified car came off the production line.
On March 1, 2002, Jetta? Safety Upgrade? came off the assembly line.
On May 25, 2002, the Jetta diesel came off the production line.
By August 26, 2002, the domestic Jetta family had accumulated sales of 500,000 units.
The Jetta King with its strong power has created a series of durability miracles in the civilian market, in addition to its good results in the 1997 Beijing Rally, the 1997 First CAC Cup National Excellent Driver North-South Challenge, the 1998 National Rally Championship, and the 1999 World Rally Championship Beijing Station.
In 1996, Zhuhai cab driver Su Yaohong drove a Jetta, creating a record of 600,000 kilometers without overhaul. In 2001, Ms. Liao Jia, a professional traveler, drove the new Jetta King from Beijing for 142 days and 60,000 kilometers, creating the feat of crossing the Eurasian continent alone and without backup.
In 2006, Changchun, Jilin cab drivers Li Baoxing and He Ge drove the Jetta with " 1 million kilometers without overhaul" and successfully crossed the Tanggula Mountain to complete the challenge of entering Tibet. 2008, Mudanjiang cab driver Dong Zhiqian drove the Jetta diesel car with a fuel consumption of 2.5L/100km and traveled 2,199 kilometers on just one tank of fuel, which set a new fuel-saving The record is a new record of fuel saving.
Jetta has an irreplaceable place in the hearts of Chinese car consumers, and King Jetta is bound to be the most glorious section of it.
Boom Period: The Laying of the King's Position (2004-2019)
After China's accession to the WTO in 2001, a large number of the world's top 500 companies entered the country, bringing with them technology and management experience, and revitalizing the economy; China's economic takeoff was achieved by the secondary industry and international trade.
In the golden decade from 2006 to 2015, China's GDP soared from $2.75 trillion to $11 trillion, and its GDP share of the global economy changed dramatically by 1% every year.
The first Jetta FL II (the second variant) rolled off the production line in 2004 at the same time as the national consumption power increased dramatically.
Until July 14, 2006, the one millionth domestic Jetta rolled off the production line, which is about 4,415 kilometers long if you shoot it in a row. At this time from the first domestic Jetta off the line has been 5335 days, the average daily output of 187.44 units, the average annual output of 68,400 units, can be called an ageless car.
The new Jetta was launched in 2010 as the final facelift for the Jetta MK2, at a time when China's automotive supply chain had been fully nurtured, and with these industrial environments created by joint ventures, China's own brands were rapidly emerging.
In the face of new products from independent brands that still have a certain gap in quality and technology, the new Jetta, with its extremely strong quality and price/performance ratio, still has very high sales in the market, of which 242,500 units were sold in 2012.
In 2011, FAW-Volkswagen launched the Jetta Two Million Anniversary Edition.
Meanwhile, a next-generation replacement for the Jetta MK2 is under development, and there are multiple product gradations within the FAW-Volkswagen brand to capture different markets.
2012 was a milestone year for the Jetta, when China's share of the global economy exceeded the 10% mark, people's livelihoods were greatly improved, and cars began to enter the homes of ordinary people on a large scale, and the annual production/sales of automobiles in the country approached the 20-million-vehicle mark, sitting at the top of the global automotive industry in terms of production and sales.
On August 31, 2012, the new Jetta was unveiled at the 15th Chengdu Auto Show, ushering in a new generation of the Jetta family and repositioning it as an entry-level, cost-effective, high-quality, three-box compact sedan of the joint venture brand. As China's auto market begins to heat up, the new Jetta relies on FAW-Volkswagen's quality endorsement and still retains its innate and irreplaceable market position.
Sublimation period: from a car to a brand (2019-)
German time on February 26, 2019, the Volkswagen Group's new sub-brand was officially launched at the group's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, with the English name of Jetta and the Chinese name of Jetta, and the brand The brand slogan is "Jetta. Jetta, the brand slogan is Bearing the extraordinary? Jetta, the brand's slogan is "Beyond Extraordinary.
Jetta is the 13th sub-brand of Volkswagen Group and the third joint venture brand of FAW-Volkswagen.
Not every Jetta is called a Jetta King, but the Jetta in our hearts will always be the King of National Cars.
Why did the Jetta have to become a separate car brand?
In the 30 years that Jetta has been in China, the number of users of the Jetta lineup and the Jetta brand has exploded exponentially: Jetta entered China in 1991, and cumulative sales of Jetta exceeded 500,000 units in 2002, 1 million units in 2006, 2 million units in 2011, and 4.6 million units in 2021. .
The huge mass base of the Jetta brand determined the official opening of the brand's independence.
With such a large number of users with the same car needs, the **** between them will become more visible, and the **** same needs involved in the process of automobile research and development, manufacturing, sales, and maintenance will be distilled out one by one and converge to form the original intention of the new Jetta brand.
After being upgraded to a brand, Jetta entered a new stage of development, but the original intent has remained the same: Use the technology that is at the top of the Chinese market, inherit the family tradition of durability, and use the affordable and generous prices and configurations, to really go for volume.
The biggest advantage of the Jetta after the independent brand is that it can use the Volkswagen MQB transverse engine modular platform to complete the development of new cars within the brand.
The MQB platform is supported by a large number of data modules to complete the design of the vehicle. After the integration of the MQB platform, the Jetta brand was able to have the industry's top industrial design and mechanical performance, but also to sell at a very competitive price, with a high degree of vehicle completion, a very low repair rate, and a significant reduction in maintenance costs.
At the same time, Volkswagen's EA211 series of four-cylinder gasoline engines are also for the ? One door, three Jets? (VA3, VS5, VS7), which provide fierce output, low fuel consumption, excellent emissions and durability.
The 1.5L naturally aspirated (EA211-DLF) serves the VA3, and the 1.4T turbocharged (EA211-DJS) equips the VS5 and VS7. This 1.4T also features a high-power version of the output, with a maximum power of 110kW (150PS) and a peak torque of 250N?m.
Having the technical foundation isn't enough. strong> The process of building new products for the Jetta brand has to be extremely elaborate. 2019 Jetta brand settled in Chengdu plant, using the Konzern Production System (KPS) and AUDI T Review System (AUDI T) as guidelines to overstep the production standards of Jetta brand models.
FAW-Volkswagen's Chengdu plant covers an area of 2,000 acres, complete with 4 major workshops*** of stamping, welding, painting, and assembly, totaling 7 plants, which can produce a new car every 58 seconds. As we just said, the Jetta brand was born to be a ? Jetta brand was born to be a national car. , is for the volume.
Today's Jetta lineupThe Jetta brand is currently laid out with a ?357? lineup, with the compact sedan VA3, compact SUV VS5, and midsize SUV VS7 all being popular classifications in China's current auto market.
The Jetta brand was created in 2019, and shortly thereafter ran into the black swan event New Crown Epidemic. In the country's economy into the embarrassing period of stagnation, the brand publicity activities can not be carried out normally, the newborn Jetta brand can actually in 2020 to complete up to 160,000 units sales, born in the headwinds of the Bureau, even in the white-hot competition in the red sea of the joint venture entry-level seat , can be considered inspirational!
The Jaguar is a great example of a car that has been used in the past.
In the Jetta lineup, the pioneering force is the compact sedan VA3, priced at 6.58-9.28 lakhs, with competitors in the same class such as the FAW Toyota Vibe and the Dongfeng Hyundai Kia K2, which are facing the problem of technological obsolescence.
VA3 not only in the chassis technology and body craft quality beyond, interior workmanship is to reach the 150,000 class of the transcendent level, multimedia system support CarPlay and CarLife, to ensure the needs of mobile connectivity, as well as heated seats, the engine air cylinder, tire pressure monitoring, automatic headlamps, cruise control, side airbags and other practical configuration. .
Compact SUVs have been a market hit since 2014, and Jetta is targeting the segment with the launch of the VS5 trim family, with an official retail price between $84,800 and $112,800, rivaling Geely Colorado, GAC Chuanqi GS4, BYD Song Pro, Chang'an CS55 Plus, and Skoda Kermit.
It has to be said, the same group within the Kermit competitiveness is not bad, while the independent brand competitors at a disadvantage in the workmanship and reputation. VS5 in addition to strong power, low fuel consumption, good workmanship, and youthful personalized color scheme, as well as the ACC adaptive cruise control, 8-inch touch screen, side airbags, sports mode, power sunroof, LED headlamps, automatic headlights, sensing wipers, Carbon monitors, and other features. headlights, sensor wipers, CarPlay/CarLife and other features.
The VS7 is the flagship model of the current Jetta brand, with a 4624mm length providing plenty of interior space, and front and rear independent suspension systems providing dual advantages in handling and comfort. ACC adaptive cruise control, 360?panoramic image, sport mode, automatic parking, full-opening panoramic sunroof, full LED headlight clusters, sensing windshield wipers, and a host of other configurations are admittedly provided, and Most are not high-specification only.
Considering that the official price of the VS7 is only between 106,800 and 136,800 yuan, and that the optional competitors at the same price level are the Great Wall Haval H6, Geely Boyue, Chang'an CS75 Plus, and Rongwei RX5 and other independent brands, and that the joint venture competitor is only Skoda Kerok, the quality advantages of the Jetta VS7 have been more clearly presented.
In order to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the birth of the Jetta, FAW-Volkswagen launched the 30th anniversary edition of the VS5 and VS7 models on May 10 this year.
All 30th Anniversary Edition models have two new body colors, Platinum Gray and Manganese Black, and the 30th Anniversary logo has been added to the B-pillar, the welcome pedal, and the headrests of the front seats, highlighting its distinctive and unique identity.
On the interior, the 30th Anniversary Edition SUV adopts a solid black dashboard on the top and bottom, and adds high-gloss black piano lacquer and chrome decorations on the air conditioning vents, door handle covers, and window button covers.
The 30th Anniversary Edition SUV is also available with a wide range of two-tone leather seats complemented by gray stitching on the black seats. The Jetta VS5 gets an additional USB socket and rear storage box in the center armrest.
The Jetta King has become a national memory, and what really remains in our hearts is the image of a national car that is technologically advanced, reliable, and inexpensive.
Thirty years of struggle, in exchange for a reputation for quality, is the Jetta's path of struggle.
Those children who grew up sitting on a Jetta have now become the new wave of owners of the new Jetta brand, accompanied by a new Jetta that is safer, more stylish, more comfortable, more durable, and more emotionally irreplaceable.
Precisely because of the clear sales performance, FAW-Volkswagen has also put forward an export program for the Jetta brand, which is a German national car brand rooted in China, and will soon bring the honest and reliable Jetta quality to more and more young families around the world.
(Photo/text: Huang Hengle)
@2019