The Jetta in Times Square, right after Katy Perry danced on top of it. (Jim Motavalli photo)

NEW YORK CITY–I’ve never understood why automakers don’t pay more attention to producing better entry-level cars. After all, to paraphrase Mark Twain, God must have loved poor people because he made so many of them. Car magazines like Road & Track and Car and Driver are full of dreams on wheels with names like Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati. But the names most of us are familiar with from the driver’s seat are Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Volkswagen.

VW is making a push to be a bigger part of the collective consciousness, and partly that means producing a new $16,000 edition of the Jetta that is price-competitive with the Corolla, Civic and other top cars from Japan and Korea. It’s about time, because while most people have respect for German technology they also think the cars are generally too expensive — especially at the bottom end of the market.

The new Jetta is coming in October, but it was in New York’s Times Square Wednesday for a gala debut that tried to add a hip gloss to a model with an image problem. (Everybody likes the Jetta, but nobody loves it.) The last time VW tried this with the Jetta, in 1997, it tossed a folding bicycle in the trunk and proclaimed a new model called the Trek. OK, but it’s kind of like putting bell bottoms on the school principal.

To that same end, VW was trying to make the Jetta cool in Times Square by bringing in some pop icons — specifically singer Katy Perry and Food Network chef Mario Batali. I doubt either one really knew why they were there, but their wide appeal meant standing room only in the VIP section. They got the actual VW unveiling over quickly, and U.S. CEO Stefan Jacoby said a few words about making the car “fun.” He was off in 10 minutes.