VW Jetta hybrid on the way

The German vehicle manufacturer will bring a petrol-electric version of the medium sedan to the market in 2012, using the 1.2-litre twin-charger direct-injection petrol engine, according to product communications manager Christian Buhlmann.

"In the US hybrids play a big part, and as of 2012 we will also have a hybrid here in the US,” he says.  “At Detroit we showed the Jetta Coupe concept… that's still under evaluation to see if there's a market for a third version. We have shown the 1.2TSI twin-charged engine in combination with an electric engine and a seven-speed DSG."

"By doing this we can fulfil our goals here for a growth strategy, North America is the only market where we don't have double-digit market share and we are going to change that.  "We are market leader in China and Europe, South America - it is our goal to become the number one in the world market by 2018, which would mean for the US 800,000 Volkswagens per year, we had 213,000 here last year so we have a long way to go, the Jetta is going to help us."

"We are currently evaluating which markets it might be most interesting for," he says.  The German marque believes the hybrid is a volume proposition only in the US market –where the Jetta represents almost half its passenger car sales.

Volkswagen has lofty volume targets, with aims to more than triple its current North American volumes to around 800,000.  With a new billion-dollar factory in North America (Chattanooga, Tennessee), as well as its existing plant in Puebla, Mexico that currently builds Jetta, the VW product plan also includes a mid-sized model above the new Jetta (to be unveiled at Detroit next year), again only for North America and not a re-badged Passat, says Buhlmann.

The Jetta will also be built in China but Buhlmann says it will only be for domestic Chinese sale, not for export to other markets, which will continue to receive its Jetta vehicles from Mexico.  The efficient direct-injection petrol and turbodiesel engines are vital to the brand's expansion, with the uptake of turbodiesel passenger vehicles exceeding the supply.

Volkswagen says a quarter of the Jetta, Jetta Sport, Touareg and Golf orders are for the new cleaner and quieter diesel powerplants, which has warranted the company's plans to build engines in North America.

Australia remains a petrol and diesel market for Volkswagen, says spokesman Karl Gehling.  "At this stage we have no plans to introduce any hybrids in Australia, we're sticking with the diesels because they've been very successful in Australia," he says.

VW Australia's diesel sales overall are around 50 per cent - although the Touareg SUV sells more than 90 per cent diesel - but the company's top-selling Golf has had a shift back in favour of petrol.

"Diesel take-up is about 50 per cent overall, with Touareg it is 95 per cent, but we've noticed with Golf, which is our biggest selling and the new TSI there's been a shift back towards petrol because of the significantly improved fuel consumption of the TSI," he says

"It's more about what genuine hybrid sales are, outside of the fleet market, it probably doesn't make sense to add the additional variant at the moment, but that may change - it all depends on fuel prices and a whole range of other factors.

Gehling is also reluctant to nominate a sales increase expectation with the new Jetta.  "We would look to see an increase in sales, but we don't comment on sales figures."

"The new model will reflect the current range, there will be a similar number of petrol or diesel, there are no plans for a GTI or an R variant, it's not that style of car in most markets, we have the 147kW car, the US gets a sporty-styled variant, but we think we have our market covered with our current range," he says.

The company's also coy on the future of Scirocco in Australia for similar reasons - there's a desire to get the vehicle to local show rooms but with a sales clash with the Golf GTI among the concerns its future remains uncertain.