In the new 2019 Jetta, Volkswagen even “upgraded” the cupholders



When Volkswagen called the 2019 Jetta all-new, they weren’t just referring to the chassis, styling but even the cupholders have undergone a “rigorous engineering upgrade”.

There was a time when Volkswagen America actually shipped fast food cups to Germany to ensure future cupholders were robust enough for Volkswagen owners in America.

Today, Americans can’t get enough of cupholders. The 2018 Volkswagen Atlas, for example, has 17 cup holders and the new 2018 Tiguan has 12.

For the seventh generation Jetta, Volkswagen designers and engineers looked closely at not just cupholders but the whole interaction of parts in the center console. If the cups stuck up too high, it can interfere with the gear lever while the wrong kind of armrest can take up too much space or be uncomfortable for some drivers.

Volkswagen designers not only updated the Jetta driver and passenger cup holders to make space for a mug with a handle but also reworked the cup holders inside the backseat armrest entirely.

The cupholders in the previous model’s backseat armrest were too shallow hence softer plastics were used at the bottom of the cupholder, allowing it to be much deeper. The updates were based directly on feedback from Volkswagen drivers and although the seventh generation Jetta just hit dealerships, Volkswagen is already folding their sleeves up for the next one.

“Believe it or not, we are already in the process of defining customer requirements for the eighth generation Jetta,” says Senior Manager for Concept and Design Quality for Volkswagen Group of America, Carsten Scharf.