QOTD: Feeling the Refresh Blues?
Today, Volkswagen made publics the announcement of the refreshed 2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI.
The refresh is, as I wrote, quite minor.
Which got me wondering -- does a mild refresh move the needle for you, the car buyer?
Especially when mechanical changes are limited?
I don't mean to pick on VW here -- every manufacturer serves up mild refreshes in which outside of small styling changes, the car doesn't change much. And in fairness to VW, there is a small but noticeable price change for the base car, there's no more manual for the base car, and certain desirable comfort and convenience features are now available on lower trims. So there is news here.
No, I am not picking on VW -- it's just the most recent mild refresh I've written about. And I get why refreshes are done -- the exterior design tweaks give a vehicle fresh looks so that the style doesn't get stale. This is especially necessary since the days of major changes each model year died decades ago, thanks to regulations and related costs.
That said, as a car shopper, does it matter to you? Or maybe the extent to which the vehicle is changed matters?
Going back to the Jetta again, perhaps the change in base price or feature availability makes a difference and a shopper might hold off from buying the 2024 model in favor of the 2025. On the other hand, there might some hard-core stick-shift enthusiast out there who can't afford a GLI who will be running out to snag a manual base Jetta before they sell out. Of course, if there were more of the latter perhaps the manual would carry over. But I digress.
OK, let's reset before I get too off track. I ask of you, the B and B -- does a mild refresh to any given model affect your possible purchase plans, one way or another?
[Image: Volkswagen]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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