Volkswagen announced that the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI will have a base price of $21,990 for the four-door sedan, while the Sportwagen version will cost $23,590, Autoblog reports. That puts the car approximately $2,000 above a regular gas-powered Jetta with the 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine. That also lands the Jetta TDI squarely in Prius territory, which should make for some very interesting comparison tests—particularly since the Jetta will likely have sportier suspension tuning, more performance-oriented tires, and a six-speed manual transmission.

Apparently, VW also did an end-run around the EPA, saying that it had its car re-tested by a third-party certifier to score a rating of 38 mpg city and 44 mpg highway. Of course, that's total baloney, since VW paid for the study. The EPA's official rating of 30/41 is the only one that matters to most consumers, however disappointing the numbers may be.

That said, I want to see what happens as more diesels hit the market from Honda, Subaru, and BMW—will all of those vehicles also exceed their EPA ratings? If so, the EPA will have to adjust its testing procedure again. Lots of diesel owners report that their cars do significantly better than what the EPA promises, particularly on the highway, and even more so now that the EPA adjusted its ratings downward for the 2008 model year.