The Jetta’s Chinese twin has received many styling upgrades and cabin refinements in preparation of its Beijing Auto Show debut.

A joint venture between SAIC and VW, the Lavida is a mid-sized sedan, built on the proven MQB platform. Sitting atop VW’s overengineered chassis is bodywork that now includes larger bumper intakes and typical of a Chinese market vehicle – an abundance of chrome garnishing around the front.

VW is offering two grille options with Lavida. The one is a traditional version, with horizontal slats, while the other is more reminiscent of something you’d see on a Mercedes-Benz A- or C-Class, with a single horizontal slat holding the VW badge in place. This ‘Star edition’ grille has a distribution of small rectangles set against a black background, supposedly replicating stars on a clear night.

Designed have applied a similar updated LED light diode treatment to Lavida’s rear taillamps and there is even a trace of integrated spoiler lip, on the boot lid.

Cabin architecture benefits from a larger floating touchscreen, to navigate the infotainment functions, and some optional red accents and trim stitching.

High-speed cruising performance is of negligible importance in China, and engine specification is unconfirmed.

A confident deduction can be made from the ‘280TSI’ badging, that VW’s 1.4-litre TSI engine is being used, in a 110 kW/250 Nm state of tune. VW’s nomenclature strategy in China indicates status, by numerals, instead of any correspondence to power output – in either horsepower or kilowatts.

Drive will be to the front wheels via VW’s slick-shifting seven-speed DSG transmission.

Would the Lavida be popular in South Africa? Possibly. But for those local VW brand fans who prefer a boot to a tailgate, a new version of the Polo sedan will become available later this year.

Further Reading

Volkswagen SA confirms its new car launches for 2022