Demand for VW Jetta TDI remains strong in U.S.
2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI - Click above for high-res image gallery
Volkswagen seems to have a nice success story on its hands in the form of the latest Jetta TDI. In April, VW moved 2,253 Jetta TDIs. Last month, that number surged to 3,862, which accounts for about 36-percent of total Jetta sales. Similar sales figures are expected in June. Interestingly, dealerships across much of the United States are reporting particularly strong demand for the SportWagen version of the oil burner. Diesel-powered station wagons in Amerca? Sign us up!
One possible reason why Jetta TDI sales are on the rise may be the decline diesel fuel prices, which have remained slightly below the cost of regular-grade gasoline for the last few months and well below that of premium gasoline. That explanation would help explain why Mercedes-Benz has also seen an increasing percentage of M-Class, GL-Class and R-Class models sold with diesel engines. Whatever the reason, it's good to see diesels selling well (relatively) in the U.S. for a change.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Salt Water Sound 5:59PM (6/22/2009)
Here's hoping Audi gets the message and gives us the A4 3.0TDI to go along with the A3.
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Alex 6:20PM (6/22/2009)
I just bought one this weekend. Great car so far. Here's hoping that the Golf TDI sells well so we can get a GTD model released in the states in the next few years.
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Chris 6:18PM (6/22/2009)
They need a bigger sedan with the TDI. Jetta is too small for me yet I want a diesel vehicle for highway usage.
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starlightmica 6:24PM (6/22/2009)
$2000-$2500 off MSRP is what counts as strong demand these days.
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Sam 6:47PM (6/22/2009)
C'mon Vw bring us the Tiguan TDI. Can't beat the mileage and tow capacity it would offer.
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ale 9:30PM (6/22/2009)
for real
rob 10:14PM (6/22/2009)
In comparison, Toyota sold 3 times more Priuses and 7 times more Corollas. Some car companies would call those 3800 units a pretty poor sales month.
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Matt 10:35PM (6/22/2009)
Wow, that's great. When you consider that only 36% or the Jettas were diesel that means they sold about the same total quantity... Which means the people love the jetta enough to forego the fuel savings. The Corolla isn't even close to the same league; you should be comparing that piece to Kia sales. "What does your hybrid sound like?" :p
Jason 10:50PM (6/22/2009)
you're comparing one specific trim of Jetta to all trims of Prius? That's a pretty awful analogy. Secondly, Go look for a TDI on a lot. You'll find that they're exceedingly hard to find, moreso even with the Sportwagen.
rob 10:55PM (6/22/2009)
Matt,
I'll still stick to the numbers and not emotions....The article was talking about Jetta TDI. The sales rate is not what I would consider "strong" demand as implied. That sales rate is only slightly better than the Pontiac Aztec was selling for its first few model years.
rob 11:11PM (6/22/2009)
Jason,
You're right. Bad analogy. The one specific powertrain of the Prius to the one specific powertrain of the Jetta wasn't a fair comparison. There are 7 TDI Jettas on our dealers lot right now. C'mon down...they're even offering $1300 off of list as a monthly special!
Killroy 12:49PM (6/23/2009)
I saw a comparison of the ownership and operating cost of the TDI vs Prius. I was surprised that the TDI did so bad. The TDI is overrated, especially when it comes to it green qualities. ABG and Treehugger hype it too much too.
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Sam 5:53AM (6/23/2009)
Lets just put it this way, while Vw's sales for the year 2009 are down approx 18% year over year because of the recession, Toyota's sales are down around 40%. The TDI which is a huge seller all over the world is what is to credit. Strong, effcient, quiet and provenly reliable, buyers all over the world have accepted this great engine. The 1.9 liter TDI engine was sold more over the world than any other Diesel engine. It's a remarkable feat and show although some(not all) americans/canadians are compeletely ignorant and uninformed when it comes to diesel, Vw's TDI are proving themselves competent, affordable fun to drive and reliable.
I wont buy anything other than a diesel, having put several million km's on Vw diesels i am confident of their reliabilty, performance and efficiency. When compared to my wife's car of the same displacement i save myself approx 5 dollars a day on fuel alone. Interestingly her's is brand new and mine a '00 with nearly 400,000 km on it.
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downtoearth 8:08AM (6/23/2009)
Every key statement relevant to potential buyers in Sam's post is a lie. This is how aggressive salesmen act - lie as hard and as much as you can without quoting a single source. People will still mostly believe what they read without questioning.
Sam:
> The TDI which is a huge seller all over the world is what is to credit.
This is a lie. Diesel marketshare is large in social Europe only.
http://rb-k.bosch.de/pool/de/Diesel/Aktuell/Dieselanteil_en.jpg
Note that:
- only 2006 data are relevant since are based on observations, not predictions
- passanger cars have been combined with LDVs (having completely different usage characteristics which makes them run diesel mostly) to make diesels look better
> effcient
EPA user shared mpg: Jetta TDI http://fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?action=mpgData&vehicleID=25262&browser=true&details=on
2009 Jetta TDI DSG: 40 mpg, driving bias: 33% city, 67% highway, 0,33*EPA29mpgCity+0,67*EPA40mpgHwy=36,37combEPAMPG
Real life: 40 mpg; EPA rating is then 10% underestimated. So is then the EPA Energy impact score of 11.9 barrels of crude oil to cover 15k miles in the Jetta TDI.
Corrected: 11.9/1.1=10.8 barrels of crude oil to cover 15k miles in a Jetta TDI
2010 Toyota Prius: 6,9 barrels of crude oil needed to cover 15k miles
2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid: 8.8 barrels of crude oil (data from EPA site, in reality this index will even be a tad lower).
Toyota Prius III is 56% more efficient than Volkswagen Jetta TDI.
Ford Fusion Hybrid is 22.7% more efficient than Volkswagen Jetta TDI.
> quiet
A typical brown stinking lie.
Db @ 70 mph Cruise:
2009 140HP Volkswagen Jetta TDI (common rail): 70.0 dB [1]
2009 132HP Toyota Corolla s:............................. 67 dB [2]
2009 Ford Fusion Hybrid:..................................... 64.4 dB (Edmunds)
Decibels are logarithmic scale. 3dB more equals twice higher noise intensity. 6dB =4x more noise.
The rattle and clatter of the inefficient Jetta TDI diesel will be piercing your ears and brain for all the "pleasant" journeys.
> provenly reliable
A full on lie, typical salesman job.
5-year total repair costs for Volkswagen Jetta GL:
2.0 115HP gasoline: $2,684 [5]
1.8 turbo 150+ HP gasoline: $3,066 [3]
1.9 TDI 90HP diesel: $3,540 [4]
> buyers all over the world have accepted this great engine.
Only unaware people in the European Union did. Because they had no hybrids of choice. Below is what they'll pay for it.
> The 1.9 liter TDI engine was sold more over
> the world than any other Diesel engine.
The 1.9 TDI engine was one of the dirtiest engines sold in the USA recently. EPA air pollution score: 1 = worst, 10 = best
2004 Volkswagen Jetta 1.9 TDI: 1 out of 10 [6]
2004 Toyota Prius II: 8 out of 10 [7]
It spews carcinogenic particulate matter that dumb European sheeple happily ingest now. Every time one of them drives behind a 1.9/2.5 TDI (millions of those were sold in Europe), air intake of their car sucks particulate matter and NOx directly from the preceding car tailpipe. And then serves them straight into their lungs through the vehicle HVAC system.
Just an informative quote from Wikipedia: " The overall five-year survival for patients with SCLC is about 5%" (SCLC is small cell lung cancer)
> some(not all) americans/canadians are compeletely ignorant
> and uninformed when it comes to diesel
Smart nations don't buy inefficient, dirtier, louder and less reliable technology. That's why diesel passenger vehicle market share in the USA, Canada and Japan is so low.
> Vw's TDI are proving themselves competent, affordable
> fun to drive and reliable.
Repeating lies makes them look more credible?
> save myself approx 5 dollars a day on fuel alone.
You lose dollars, not save them. And so will every diesel buyer. Inability to count has its consequences.
5-year total costs of ownership for Volkswagen Jetta GL:
2.0 115HP gasoline: $29,934 [5]
1.8 turbo 150+ HP gasoline: $33,306 [3]
1.9 TDI 90HP diesel: $33,219 [4]
[1] tinyurl.com/lcux6l
[2] tinyurl.com/njdvkg
[3] tinyurl.com/mrmt2k
[4] tinyurl.com/lnwabp
[5] tinyurl.com/n5zfaj
[6] tinyurl.com/m9mcpx
[7] tinyurl.com/ndn7bd
Snowdog 11:27AM (6/23/2009)
Sam,
The old VW diesels have nothing to do with the new VW diesels.
You can't claim they have all of the good behaviors of the old (economy, durability), but none of the bad (Heavy Pollution).
The new clean diesel has a very complex anti pollution system, and already people are going in with clogged DPFs, there have already been turbo failures. There have already been problems when people tried to ignore VW and use more than 5% bio diesel throwing codes and endangering their engines. From what I read one of the leading bio-diesel proponents is selling his new clean diesel VW and sticking with an old one.
These new ones will have no more reliability than any modern gas engine, possible less (it is a VW).
wxman 1:34PM (6/23/2009)
>It spews carcinogenic particulate matter that dumb European sheeple happily ingest now. Every time one of them drives behind a 1.9/2.5 TDI (millions of those were sold in Europe), air intake of their car sucks particulate matter and NOx directly from the preceding car tailpipe. And then serves them straight into their lungs through the vehicle HVAC system.<
If you're worried about PM from the 1.9 TDI, you REALLY should be worried about PM from high-emitting gasoline vehicles. PM from high-emitting gasoline vehicles ("white smokers") is much more toxic at the cellular level than PM from diesel engines per unit mass, even high-emitting diesel engines (http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/pdfs/deer_2007/session5/deer07_mauderly.pdf).
DPF eliminates health effects from diesel engine PM. What's being done about PM from gasoline engines?
Snowdog 5:51PM (6/23/2009)
Wxman. Older diesels (Pre 2008) are high emitters in new condition with perfect tune.
White smokers are faulty gas cars, not normal condition cars.
I hate all high emitters. Regardless of whether they be old diesels or busted gas powered cars.
But you don't see a lot of people around here positively tickled about there busted gas engines that belch white smoke. OTOH people driving old smokey diesels seem quite proud of their pollution machines.
I have no gripe with the emissions of clean >2008 diesels.
downtoearth 6:54PM (6/23/2009)
wxman, this research presents readings from a 1996 primitive GM pick-up that had to comply with lousy truck emission regulations. You're making a point by this?
How many of such vehicles are on the roads of Europe now? Very few.
How many 1.9/2.5 dirty TDIs are there? Millions.
Another issue is evaluation of lung pathology after just 7 days of exposure. This is nonsense considering that the lag between exposition on carcinogens and implications is measured in years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cancer_smoking_lung_cancer_correlation_from_NIH.svg
Let's present the truth, wxman. 2004 Prius II automatic vs 2009 all new Golf BlueMotion manual, 5sp. Prius is roomier and faster. And the all new 2010 Prius just trumps the diesel Golf even more badly.
Fuel Consumption - Metric [l/100 km] combined:
2004 Toyota Prius II:..... 4.3
2009 VW Golf BlueMotion:.. 4.5
CO2 Emissions [g/km]
2004 Toyota Prius II:...... 104
2009 VW Golf 6 BlueMotion:. 119
Noise Level [dB(A), moving]
2004 Toyota Prius II:...... 69.0
2009 VW Golf 6 BlueMotion:. 71.0 (~2x noisier)
CO Emissions [mg/km]
2004 Toyota Prius II:...... 180
2009 VW Golf 6 BlueMotion:. 391 (2x more)
NOx Emissions [mg/km]
2004 Toyota Prius II:....... 10
2009 VW Golf 6 BlueMotion:. 116 (11x more)
HC Emissions [mg/km]
2004 Toyota Prius II:....... 20
2009 VW Golf 6 BlueMotion:...70 (3.5x more)
Particulates [No.][mg/km]
2004 Toyota Prius II:........ N/A
2009 VW Golf 6 BlueMotion:...0.70
Sources:
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/vehicleDetails.asp?id=10982
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/vehicleDetails.asp?id=22149
wxman 10:51PM (6/23/2009)
>You're making a point by this?<
Yes. I don't know where you live, but where I live, there are at least as many old smoker gas pickup trucks as there are smoker diesel pickup trucks.
The topic of this thread is the U.S.-spec Jetta TDI, not European models. All of the U.S. models are equipped with DPF (as are ALL U.S.-spec on-road diesel vehicles, including heavy-duty trucks) plus NOx adsorption catalyst. Even diesel-hating CARB acknowledges that DPF-equipped diesel vehicles have LOWER PM emissions than typical new gasoline vehicles (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYH/is_5_7/ai_99232199/).
Gilles 6:29AM (7/07/2009)
400,000 km is impressive! I know somone who has a 2000 Jetta TDI for sale in Ontario, Canada. It has 478,000 km (approx 300,000miles)
I'm actually considering buying it. No rust. Dealer serviced. So they say..
What do you think? Should I go for it. They're asking $2800.00 Cdn dollars.