Jetta M6: VW's Chinese electric sedan starts at about $11,900

Volkswagen's cheapest brand in China now has an electric car. Jetta, the budget label run by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture, launched the M6 sedan on 22 October, its first battery-electric model, CnEVPost reports. Prices start at 79,800 yuan, about $11,900, which is 1,000 yuan less than the pre-sale price announced in September.

Three trims, two batteries

The M6 comes in three versions, and the number in each name is its range in kilometres on China's optimistic CLTC test cycle:

All three are front-wheel drive with a single motor. The lithium iron phosphate cells come from CALB, and a fast charge from 30% to 80% takes about 25 minutes, according to the company. Electrive adds that a heat pump and 3.5 kW vehicle-to-load output are standard. If you're wondering what LFP means for range and charging habits, our LFP vs NMC explainer covers it.

A Model 3-sized family car

At 4,806 mm long with a 2,820 mm wheelbase, the M6 is roughly the size of a Tesla Model 3, but priced against cars such as the BYD Qin Plus EV. It sits on Jetta's in-house "Jiesi" electric architecture. Inside there is a 15.6-inch central screen with Chinese AI assistants (Doubao and DeepSeek among them) and Apple CarPlay support. The top 555 Ultra trim adds highway and city navigation assist running on a Horizon Robotics Journey 6M chip; the cheaper trims make do with standard driver assistance.

Why it matters

Jetta was created to sell affordable Volkswagen-engineered cars in China's lower price tiers. With the M6, VW now has an EV in the segment where Chinese brands have been taking the most market share. There is no word on exports, so treat the dollar price as a currency conversion, not a sign the car is coming west.

It is another sign of how quickly prices are falling in China: see our coverage of the second-generation BYD Seagull and VW's own ID. Unyx 09.