(Wed 16 Jun 10)

As motoring trivia fans will surely know, the current Volkswagen Jetta is the best-selling German saloon car in North America, so it's appropriate that VW chose New York as the location for the official unveiling of the new model.

Slightly longer than the model it replaces, and with more legroom in the rear (rarely a Volkswagen strong point in the past), the latest Jetta has a luggage capacity of 510 litres and is fitted as standard with ESP and six airbags. Unlike the current car, this one will be available with Volkswagen's 105bhp 1.2 TSI turbo petrol engine and the 158bhp super/turbocharged 1.4 petrol; a familiar list of petrol and diesel units, including the 198bhp turbo petrol, completes the range.

Sales in the UK - where the car is unlikely to match the popularity of the Golf on which it's based, since customers here generally prefer hatchbacks to saloons - will start early next year, at prices which have yet to be announced.

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