Updated 2025 VW Jetta and Jetta GLI offer refined style and better value

VW refines its Jetta and Jetta GLI gateway models

By Bruce Brown Published June 26, 2024

2025 VW Jetta GLI and 2025 VW Jetta left front three-quarter image driving on paved road with mountains in the background.
Volkswagen EVs get a lot of coverage, but the company isn’t abandoning gas-powered. Volkswagen introduced the 2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI with new exterior style accents, colors, and wheel choices, plus an updated interior, including a new dash with a floating 8-inch display. Aware of Jetta’s entry-level role in the brand’s model lineup, VW also promises the 2025 Jetta starting price will be lower than the 2024 Jetta with an automatic transmission, which starts at $21,995.

Why the VW Jetta matters

2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI Reveal | Volkswagen of America

Since its introduction in 1980, the Jetta has been Volkswagen’s best-selling car in North America. VW sells many Jettas to first-time new car buyers, newly graduated college students, and people looking for value in a new car that seats five. VW also views the Jetta as a gateway car for future car sales when owners have positive experiences with their Jettas and are inclined to stay loyal to the VW brand.

Recommended Videos

Because Jetta is the lowest-priced VW in the U.S., buyers benefit from new features and technologies earlier and at a lower cost than they might with other brands or models. VW hopes to benefit from current and future sales by continuing to attract new customers by updating the Jetta platform and keeping the entry price low for the brand.

New for the 2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI

2025 VW Jetta GLI left front three-quarter view driving on a paved road in the countryside with mountains in the background.
Notable new features for both the 2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI include:

New colors and wheel choices
Revised front fascia with LED headlights
New trunk lid with a light bar connecting the tail lights
New dashboard with an 8-inch floating touchscreen infotainment display
Standard Climatronic Touch automatic climate control
Standard IQ Drive has an extensive Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADASs) suite.

The 2025 Jetta’s standard 1.5-liter, 158-hp turbocharged four-cylinder engine, paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission, is carried over from 2024.

For 2025, the Jetta GLI, aka the GTI with a trunk, The sportier GLI, available with either a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission or a six-speed manual, has a sport-tuned engine that makes 228php and 258 lb-ft of torque. The GLI also has larger brakes, an electronically-controlled torque-sensing limited-slip differential, an electronic differential lock, an adaptive damping system, and a sport exhaust system.

VW expects the 2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI will begin to arrive at U.S. dealers in late Q3 2024.
2025 VW Jetta right front three-quarter view driving on a paved road in the countryside with mountains in the background.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A Digital Trends Contributing Editor and Contributor for TheManual.com, Bruce Brown writes e-mobility reviews and covers…

Auto

Presales start for VW ID.3 GTX Performance, VW’s most powerful EV

VW drops details, opens orders for third-level performance-focused ID.3

2025 VW ID.3 GTX Performance front left wheel.

Volkswagen has pushed the EV performance puck further with the ID.3 GTX Performance. VW's most powerful EV has more torque than the brand's most potent turbocharged V6 engines. The fun starts here with the sporty rear-wheel drive hatch's low center of gravity, progressive steering, and performance-optimized suspension.
Why the ID.3 GTX Performance matters

Adding the Performance variant to the already sporty ID.3 GTX is from a standard page in VW's playbook. It goes something like this: build a car that satisfies most people, add a sportier version for drivers who want more than just transportation, and then offer a third variant that's tighter and faster for buyers who crave and will pay for a car that prioritizes speed and handling. The fourth step would be a track-ready car that's still street-legal. The ID.3 GTX Performance is level three.
ID.3 GTX Performance features

Auto

VW offers limited 2024 Tiguan Wolfsburg Edition closeout model

W offers a special Wolfsburg Edition to celebrate the outgoing Tiguan generation,

2024 vw tiguan wolfsburg edition in atlantic blue on a city street

Before Volkswagen introduces the all-new 2025 VW Tiguan model family, buyers attracted to the 2024 Tiguan can buy a special value-packed version. The 2024 VW Tiguan Wolfsburg Edition will be based on the Tiguan SE trim in four colors with either front-wheel drive or 4Motion all-wheel drive. Volkswagen did not release any photos of the 2024 Tiguan Wolfsburg Edition, so the images accompanying this article show the 2024 Tiguan SE and other trims.
Why celebrate an out-going generation?

Automakers frequently offer final editions of models about to be discontinued. Perhaps buyers think they'll have the chance to buy a car that will gain value in time, especially for high-level luxury and performance cars. For example, in the last six months, Jaguar Land Rover marketed the "last-gas Jags." Stellantis had a series of Last Call special editions for its most powerful models, such as the Dodge Challenger Hellcat.

Auto

VW reveals 2025 ID. Buzz trim levels and features, no launch date or prices yet

Break out your tie-dyed t-shirts, the VW ID. Buzz is coming

2025 VW ID. Buzz and vintage VW Bus parked in front of rolling hills.

Start waxing your surfboard. VW revealed three U.S. introductory trim levels for the long-awaited 2025 VW ID. Buzz, the all-electric descendent of the original VW Microbus. We have to wait for specifics such as initial order date, pricing, range, and towing capacity, but VW released the details on the three trim levels for the U.S. launch.
Why the U.S. version of the VW ID. Buzz matters

The 1960s was an interesting time in the U.S., with a counterculture movement that emerged from the post-WWII Baby Boomer generation and challenged conventional expectations. The VW Microbus was an icon of that tie-dyed period of U.S. history. When VW confirmed that the ID. Buzz concept vehicle would go into production, the company noted that U.S. buyers' enthusiasm for a new 'VW bus' was the driving factor.
What the 2025 VW ID. Buzz U.S. offers