People are missing the big picture when they criticize VW for the 2011 Jetta.
VW is doing exactly what they need to be doing with the new Jetta. We used to get clubbed over the head with the same things day in and day out when people would cross shop us. Now, sure, the VWs had their advantages, and these advantages did appeal to about 10% of the population. The other 90% griped about rear seats that were too small for child seats (Jetta/Golf), high prices vs competition (all), have to run premium gas (turbos), inferior MPG to competition (non-diesel), inferior cupholders, etc. The average person didn't give a hoot about independent rear suspension, 4 wheel discs, or stability control no matter how well you explained the advantages of such things. You could give the best presentation and demonstration of what made VWs unique and worth the extra money in the world, and 90% of your prospective clients thanked you for your excellent demo, professionalism, and then went down and bought a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan.
We would have killed for a Jetta like this 5 years ago. To most of us on the sales floor, the MK5 was a disappointment at the time of launch. I remember attending the unveiling for our region in Chicago. The general reaction was lukewarm at best. Not what you want when your latest and greatest volume seller hits the floor. The MK5 did nothing to broaden the appeal of the Jetta to a wider customer base than the MK4. Sure it might have been improved We wanted a car just like this 2011 car back in 2005. You make money selling cars against Altimas, Camrys, and Accords, not having some boutique car that is 10% smaller than those guys, 10% more expensive, and perceived as 20% less reliable by the public. I haven't looked at sales numbers, but I'd be willing to bet that MK4 Jettas outsold MK5 Jettas in the US given a similar time on market, even though the diesels were much more widely available in the MK5.
VW may offend a few of us that are longtime owners and enthusiasts, but hey, they've tried to make money for years selling cars to us and it isn't working. They've basically lost their rear ends in the US financially over the past decade. So, time for a new approach, and this is it. I give them credit for finally seeing reality and doing something about it. If VW loses 25,000 hardcore fans and gains 100k new customers, they win. No point staying in the USA with so many product lines when your total sales volume is less than Toyota sells in Corollas alone. Think about that. Toyota sells more Corollas in the USA than VW sells Jettas, Passats, Golfs, GTIs, Routans, Eos, Tiguans, and Touaregs. Think of just the parts you have to stock to maintain all those different cars versus many fewer parts for that many Corollas. Think of how much service training you have to give techs to work on all those lines. The efficiencies of scale have to be huge for Toyota. You, as VW, have 2% of the US market and that many product lines? Makes no business sense. You have to do something to drastically increase your sales volume. If you tick a few of us off along the way, tough.
Think about how Honda built themselves up in the US. They really only branched into their other vehicles after the Civic and Accord were huge volume sellers. After the Civic and Accord were big, they add the CRV. After the first generation Odyssey flops, they radically redesign it to meet what the average van buyer wants, not what they decide the average van buyer should want (the VW approach). Sales of Odysseys skyrocket. After they have 4 volume sellers in the Accord, Civic, Odyssey, and CRV, they add the weird stuff like the Element and the Ridgeline.
VW needs to take the same approach, and they seem to be aiming for this. You get the Jetta decontented and depriced to compete with the Civic and Corolla. You then introduce a larger sedan specific to the US market that is cheaper than a Passat and more in line with American tastes. If I'm not mistaken they are doing just that. After you get that nailed down, you'd probably be smart to have a small SUV to compete head to head with the CRV, RAV4, Escape, Forester, etc. I think they'd even do well to have a Mazda5 kind of little van, or a full on Odyssey competitor (not a rebadge of a domestic van). Stuff like Touaregs and Eos are wastes of time, really, and take valuable resources that should be used on your core products. When you get really big in this country, like Toyota, then maybe you mess around with the Eos, etc.