Jetta M6 starts at 79,800 CNY, but city NOA is reserved for the 99,800 trim

FAW-Volkswagen's Jetta brand launched the M6, its first battery-electric car, in Chengdu on October 22, 2026, with three trims priced from 79,800 CNY (c. $11,880) to 99,800 CNY (c. $14,860). City and highway navigation on autopilot (NOA), one of the M6's main selling points, comes only on the top 555 Ultra trim, which costs 20,000 CNY (c. $2,980) more than the entry car.

The 465 Pro is priced at 79,800 CNY, the 555 Max at 89,800 CNY (c. $13,370) and the 555 Ultra at 99,800 CNY. Pre-sales opened on September 28, 2026, at a range of 80,800 to 99,800 CNY, so the starting price fell by 1,000 CNY (c. $149) at launch while the top trim held its price.

The middle trim looks like the volume car. Compared with the 465 Pro, the 555 Max steps up to the 51.9 kWh battery and adds heated and ventilated front seats and six-way power adjustment for the driver, while city and highway NOA stay exclusive to the Ultra. The top trim has 14 active safety functions, including automatic emergency braking and automatic emergency steering.

The M6 is built on Jetta's in-house Jiesi architecture and a dedicated electric platform. It is a mid-size sedan, 4,806 mm long and 1,500 mm tall, on a 2,820 mm wheelbase, with a fastback roofline and a drag coefficient of 0.208. Jetta credits 17 low-drag measures for that figure, including an active external grille shutter fitted as standard.

The styling follows what Jetta calls a bamboo design language, with leaf-shaped headlamps, segmented full-width tail lamps and the brand's new new-energy badge. Buyers can choose from six exterior colours and 17-inch or 18-inch wheels, and the charging port sits on the front passenger-side fender.

Official image from Jetta: the M6, the first model from Jetta's Chengdu-based company, goes on sale in six exterior colours, including this teal

Every trim uses a single front motor. The 465 Pro gets 113 kW and 230 Nm and reaches 100 km/h in 8.3 seconds, while both 555 trims get 145 kW and 260 Nm and do it in 6.8 seconds. Lithium iron phosphate packs from CALB (HKEX: 3931) come in 42.9 kWh and 51.9 kWh sizes, for CLTC ranges of 465 km (289 miles) and 555 km (345 miles).

Jetta quotes energy use as low as 10.5 kWh per 100 km and a 30% to 80% charge in 25 minutes. Top speed is 166 km/h (103 mph) for the 465 Pro and 172 km/h (107 mph) for the 555 trims, a split configuration listings also show.

The 555 Ultra runs a vision-only system that does not rely on high-definition maps, supplied by Carizon, the driver-assistance joint venture of Volkswagen and Horizon Robotics (HKEX: 9660), on Horizon's Journey 6M chip, using what Jetta describes as a one-stage end-to-end driver-assistance model. It supports highway and city NOA plus memory parking across floors of a car park, and Jetta says parking-space-to-parking-space navigation will follow by over-the-air update. Lower trims still get intelligent cruise, automatic emergency braking, automated and remote-controlled parking, a heat pump and 3.5 kW vehicle-to-load output.

Jetta is also putting its own money behind the software. For the first year, it will cover accidents that occur while driver assistance is engaged, a pledge limited to first owners of non-commercial cars with highway or city navigation. Launch benefits are valued at 26,000 CNY (c. $3,870) in total, including five "lifetime" pledges worth 11,000 CNY (c. $1,640), among them a warranty on the battery, motor and control system and cover for automated-parking accidents, along with a trade-in subsidy of up to 5,000 CNY (c. $744), zero-down, zero-interest finance and eight years of free basic data. Two reports say the lifetime warranty and automated-parking pledges apply only to the first owner, and one adds that the car must be used non-commercially; neither spells out that qualifier for all five pledges.

Inside, the M6 pairs an 8.88-inch digital cluster, a size configuration listings also show, with a 15.6-inch 2.5K central screen, and its voice assistant draws on ByteDance's Doubao, DeepSeek and Alibaba's Qwen models. HiCar, CarLink and CarPlay are supported, and the boot holds 542 litres, or 1,800 litres with the rear seats folded. Front seats with heating, ventilation, memory and massage are available.

Rendering of the M6 cabin in a purple and white trim, with the 8.88-inch cluster behind the wheel and the 15.6-inch screen beside it (Jetta)

The rest of the cabin list is long for the price: 256-colour hidden ambient lighting, a 50 W wireless charging pad, a sunshade glass roof with three silver-coated layers, 24 storage spaces, sentry mode and remote control through a phone app. The software adds AI trip planning, custom voices and scene modes.

Those numbers put the M6 into China's 80,000 CNY electric sedan class. Its price range overlaps the BYD Qin PLUS, Wuling Starlight EV and Aion S, and some analysts say the sedan's main points of difference are its 2,820 mm wheelbase and city NOA below 100,000 CNY (c. $14,890).

The car is also the first product of Jetta's new structure. FAW-Volkswagen Jetta Automotive Technology began operating in Chengdu on January 14, 2026, with more authority over local development and faster decisions, following a three-party agreement in August 2025 between FAW, Volkswagen Group China and the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone. More than 100 local suppliers feed the M6, and its local procurement rate exceeds 70%.

Jetta has planned annual capacity of 100,000 units for the M6, which it says will grow to 300,000 as later models arrive. The company plans five new models by 2028, four of them new energy vehicles, and a medium-term target of 400,000 to 500,000 sales a year, with a battery-electric SUV and a plug-in hybrid SUV due after the M6.

The M6 arrives 35 years after Jetta entered China, and it asks buyers to pay for software as much as for space. Whether shoppers in the 80,000 CNY sedan class will spend 20,000 CNY more for city NOA, or settle for the 465 Pro, will show how much a Volkswagen badge and an accident pledge are worth against rivals like the Qin PLUS.

Conversion rate: 1 USD = 6.7180 CNY as of October 23, 2026.