Yes, NCS is New Compact Sedan, which is VAG's name for the 2011+ Jetta sedan that is largely targeted at the North American market. It is the first time since the Jetta's introduction midway during the A1's original run that it is no longer a "Golf with a trunk".
The current Beetle, 2012-present, is also based on this NCS underpinnings.
The current North American Passat, which is not the same car as the Passat in Europe, is known as the NMS or New Midsize Sedan.
Both of these cars were developed from research done by VAG/VoA's Moonraker project in which they tried to learn what the American market wanted. While it is true this market does tend to favor somewhat largish, bland, and decontented lesser priced sedans, as Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and others have known for a while, the Moonroaker project seemed to have missed the mark on what actually brings a lot of Volkswagen buyers to the brand in the first place: a European brand that is within the reach of most consumers. And it really stood alone in that regard, unless you count Mini and Fiat, which both seem more of a specialty niche brand here, not really a bread and butter brand.
I think their work paid off, though, as sales of both Jetta sedan models and Passats skyrocketed here with the NCS and NMS models' introduction. And they amazingly kept their ace in the hole, the diesel engine (and even the MANual transmission!) an option on both! Which is why Dieselgate is such a bummer. They were in such good shape going forward here. Were.
Because in addition to these competitively priced and equipped Americanized sedans, they also had the Golf and Sportwagon, both of which represent a body style that is not filled with many choices, especially station wagons. They were also poised to offer a diesel Tiguan here [finally] at the next model cycle, and most all the Audi models were also getting diesel engine options. They REALLY screwed up.
