2015 Volkswagen Jetta

Forget the Passat -- for Volkswagen, the Jetta defines the automaker in the U.S. This year, one out of every four vehicles sold by Volkswagen in America is a Jetta, which has outsold the Beetle, CC, Golf, Touareg, and Tiguan combined.

And while the German automaker has quieted its talk about world domination in automotive sales, it still needs to improve sales in the U.S. if it plans to usurp Toyota as the No. 1 car manufacturer in the world. The Jetta has long been the car Americans most associate with the brand, perhaps because it is the easiest to pronounce compared to the likes of the Touareg or Tiguan. While the Jetta has been a good car up to this point, it has not been a great one. So Volkswagen went back to the drawing board with the Jetta, attempting to add more bells and whistles to create a high-tech compact sedan ready to mind-meld with the American psyche.

Of course, the 2015 Volkswagen Jetta will arrive in nearly as many flavors as Baskin-Robbins offers. There are more than 10 different variations of the Jetta, including a base model with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, a 1.8T Sport with a 170-horsepower turbocharged I-4, a 2.0-liter turbodiesel Jetta, a GLI performance sedan as well as a hybrid Jetta, just in case you need some eco-cred with your Prius-driving neighbors. One day this week in Virginia, about 30 miles from Volkswagen's American headquarters, Motor Trend drove three Jettas: a 2.0-l.iter base model, the weakest in the bunch with 115 hp and 125 lb-ft of torque; a 1.8-liter turbocharged sport model with 170 hp and 184 lb-ft, and the diesel-powered Jetta with Volkswagen's new 2.0-liter turbodiesel four-banger.

Aside from the powertrains, all of the refreshed 2015 Jettas are pretty similar. The automaker changed out the front and rear fascias, adding a new three-bar grille and 15 LED daytime running lights next to the HID headlights. The look is more aggressive than the outgoing Jetta, but it's not likely to cause any car to leak oil in fear. On the 1.8L and TDI models, there's an added shuttered grille, allowing the grille to close to warm up faster and close at higher speeds to improve aerodynamics. In fact, many of the changes to the 2015 Jetta were done to improve its aerodynamics and, thus, increase its fuel economy. In the rear, the 2015 Jetta gets a new decklid, taillights, emblem, and bumper. The decklid includes an integrated spoiler, which also improves air flow over the car. (More important, the Jetta has 15.5 cubic feet of storage under that decklid, which is impressive for the compact class.)