Volkswagen brings new (ish) Jetta to New York along with Golf Sportwagen

With its new President and CEO of America, Michael Horn, on stage in New York after just 100 days on the job, Volkswagen debuted its 2015 Jetta. You'd be forgiven for noticing little differences compared to the outgoing model, and in the words of Horn himself, the changes are indeed subtle. The most notable of those subtleties is the all-new 2.0 liter turbo diesel motor, offering 45 mpg highway and a modest increase of 10 hp.

For VW, diesel is where it's at.

During a roundtable meeting preceding the reveal, Horn told Yahoo Autos that diesel motors represent 25-percent of their sales, and that VW controls over 70-percent of the U.S. diesel market. Beyond the range benefits and punchy torque, the buyers of diesels are more affluent and upscale -- the type of customers all manufacturers are keen to attract. Despite increasing its hybrid models, diesel motors are where the company sees the most room for growth, along with a re-haul of its SUV lineup starting in 2016.

The 2015 Jetta arrives with tweaked interior finishes -- like a soft-touch dashboard -- and nifty safety equipment such as blind spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert and frontal collision warnings. As Horn told us, VW buyers -- specifically American customers -- want more technology for less dough (aren't we greedy?). While pricing for the new Jetta hasn't yet been revealed, it's said to be close to the outgoing model, and in fact better value when some of these various options are ticked. Safety and affordability, not necessarily style, is VW's core focus, according to Horn -- although he did hint that the new Passat, arriving next year, will receive a major restyle.