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Following its re-entry into the UK’s top ten most popular cars chart in October after an absence in September’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures, the Volkswagen Polo climbed four places in November’s list. A total of 3,115 Polos were registered in the UK during November, rewarding it sixth place. Its tally of 40,221 units puts it seventh in the year-to-date list.

The Polo slipped out of September’s UK most popular cars listing due to new regulation and the introduction of the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) certification. This legislation requires car manufacturers to test their complete model range to the new standards that measure fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from passenger cars, as well as their pollutant emissions. September’s figures showed an across the board dip of 20 per cent, so we suspect it wasn’t just Volkswagen which was affected. In October, the Polo reappeared on the rundown in tenth place.

Steady decline
In November, UK registrations dipped 3.0 per cent compared to the same period in 2017, maintaining its steady decline thanks to, states the SMMT, ‘uncertainty, falling customer confidence and supply constraints’. Year-to-date figures point to a 6.9 per cent drop in demand for January to November, which is ‘in line with industry expectations’, the SMMT says.

As ever, the Ford Fiesta still tops the monthly and year-to-date charts, with 5,193 and 90,173 units registered respectively. Volkswagen’s Golf was second with 4,678 cars finding new homes, and with 60,605 units registered during the year so far, it sits in second place behind the Fiesta in the year-to-date list. The UK’s top 10 most popular cars during November 2018 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) were as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 5,193 (90,173, 1st)
2 Volkswagen Golf: 4,678 (60,605, 2nd)
3 Mercedes-Benz A-Class: 4,104 (39,243, 8th)
4 Nissan Qashqai: 3,195 (47,937, 4th)
5 Mini: 3,170 (40,254, 6th)
6 Volkswagen Polo: 3,115 (40,221, 7th)
7 Ford Focus: 3,068 (46,573, 5th)
8 Vauxhall Mokka X: 2,778
9 Kia Sportage: 2,731 (34,069, 10th)
10 Vauxhall Corsa: 2,594 (48,651, 3rd)

(The UK’s 2018 year-to-date top ten most popular car absent from November’s registration figures was the ninth-placed Ford Kuga with 37,752 registrations.)

Chart topper
In South Africa the latest sixth-generation Polo followed on from its lead for October, and topped the passenger car sales chart with 3,092 cars registered. With 2,427 units in new garages, the fifth-generation Polo-based Polo Vivo was again fast in its tyre tracks. In contrast to the UK, Ford Fiesta registrations totalled just 980. Overall, the South African new car market saw a year-on-year decline in November, with overall sales of 47,486, down 4.6 per cent on the same month in 2017.

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The new Polo GTI R5 followed up on its podium place on the 2018 Rally Spain with a fifth place finish at the 2018 Prague Rally Sprint. Vojtěch Štajf / Karel Janeček just missed out on victory in the number 21 Baumschlager Rallye & Racing (BRR) car.

The first customer-run Polo GTI R5 in competition – which was only handed over to the Austrian team last week – crossed the line just 6.1 seconds behind the winners Martin Koči and Radovan Mozner Jr in their Škoda Fabia R5. Štajf and Janeček were leading by over 13 seconds going into the final stage, and looked set to take the first non-works Polo GTI R5 win. However, the duo sadly clipped a kerb, which cost them time.

A first stage win was also on the cards, too, on stage four, at 10.86kms the longest of the event. The Czech pairing finished just four tenths of a second off the leading time. The Prague Rally Sprint was the first competitive outing for a Polo GTI R5 in customer hands. The 270bhp four-wheel drive machine had previously demonstrated its speed on gravel and tarmac at the Rally Spain in October, where both the crews of Petter Solberg / Veronica Engan and Eric Camilli / Benjamin Veillas both won special stages.

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The first customer Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 rally car to emerge from Volkswagen Motorsport’s Hannover workshops has been handed over to its new owner. Car number one has gone to Baumschlager Rallye & Racing, owned by Raimund Baumschlager. The 59 year-old Austrian rally champion helped with the development of the 270bhp Polo GTI R5, and has campaigned an ex-works Polo R WRC in national rally championships.

Baumschlager and his team intends to focus on the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) with its Polo GTI R5. The 2019 ERC consists of eight rounds, and the R5 class forms the top category in the series. The class is also mandatory in the U28 competition. The first outing for Baumschlager’s car will be at the Prague Rallysprint (Pražský Rallysprint) on 1 December.

Another Polo GTI R5 was handed over to the Italian HK Racing team Italy, who will run the new car at the Monza Rally Show from 7-9 December, with cars for Belgian teams Bernard Munster Autosport and THX Racing arriving in the last week of November. Seven more Polo GTI R5 are scheduled to be delivered to customers in, Finland, Paraguay, Portugal and Sweden by the end of 2018.

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5: Baumschlager Rallye & Racing

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5: Baumschlager Rallye & Racing

Two different chassis
The ERC is held on both tarmac and gravel surfaces, so Baumschlager’s Polo was ordered with the components necessary for two chassis set-ups. ‘Two Polo GTI R5 are already earmarked for the ERC. We have a handful of interested parties for the third car,’ said Baumschlager. ‘We have had many enquiries from customers who enjoy a close association with VW and are very pleased that it is now also offering a rally car,’ added the 14-time Austrian rally champion.

The four-wheel drive Polo GTI R5 is a customer sports rally car developed by Volkswagen Motorsport for the R5 class. The R5 cars are relatively close to their production counterparts, and are approved in the WRC 2 category of the World Rally Championship, but they also represent the highest class in selected regional and national championships.

‘Start of a new chapter’
‘The Polo GTI R5 rally car heralds the start of a new chapter for Volkswagen Motorsport,’ said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets. ‘After the homologation by the FIA and the successful competitive debut in Spain – complete with a podium result for Petter Solberg – the delivery of the first car to a customer marks the next major milestone.’

The production and distribution of between 30 and 40 Polo GTI R5s a year is planned from 2019. Juliane Gründl, Head of Sales at Volkswagen Motorsport, said: ‘The handing over of the first Polo GTI R5 takes the new customer sport project at Volkswagen Motorsport into the next phase. We currently working hard on the production of more cars, as well as the logistics required to distribute spare parts all over the world are also in place.’

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The Volkswagen Polo has re-entered the UK’s top ten most popular cars chart, rounding out the countdown for October, according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). A total of 2,753 Polos were registered in the UK during October, and is number sixth in the year-to-date list, with 37,106 units registered.

New regulation
The Polo slipped out of September’s UK most popular cars listing due to new regulation and the introduction of the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) certification. This legislation requires car manufacturers to test their complete model range to the new standards that measure fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from passenger cars, as well as their pollutant emissions.

However, with UK registrations down 20 per cent in September across the board, Volkswagen wasn’t the only manufacturer affected by the new legislation. But when the Polo did last appear in the SMMT’s list for August, it was at number three in the top ten rundown. We suspect some of the WLTP supply issues are still being felt.

Fighting back
Overall, UK registrations for October dipped 2.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, while year-to-date figures suggest a 7.2 per cent fall. The Ford Fiesta still tops the monthly and year-to-date charts, with 5,564 and 84,980 units registered respectively. Volkswagen’s evergreen Golf is fighting back, too, after it also disappeared from the top ten in September. In October it was back to second place, with 3,765 cars finding new homes. Volkswagen’s Tiguan was also a popular choice, with 3,297 registered.

The UK’s top 10 most popular cars during October 2018 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) were as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 5,564 (84,980, 1st)
2 Volkswagen Golf: 3,765 (55,927, 2nd)
3 Mercedes-Benz A-Class: 3,339 (35,139, 9th)
4 Volkswagen Tiguan: 3,297
5 Ford Focus: 3,283 (43,505, 5th)
6 Mini: 3,208 (37,084, 7th)
7 Ford Kuga: 2,847 (35,327, 8th)
8 Nissan Qashqai: 2,799 (44,742, 4th)
9 BMW 3 Series: 2,773
10 Volkswagen Polo: 2,753 (37,106, 6th)

(The UK’s 2018 year-to-date top 10 most popular cars absent from October’s registration figures were the third-placed Vauxhall Corsa and the tenth-placed Kia Sportage with 46,057 and 31,338 registrations respectively.)

Switched places
In South Africa, the latest sixth-generation Polo switched places with its fifth-generation Polo Vivo sibling and was the second best-selling passenger car during October 2018, with 2,824 units in new garages. The chart-topping Vivo shifted just 185 units more. In contrast with the UK, the Ford Fiesta was in seventh place, with just 888 cars registered.

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Volkswagen Motorsport described the first – and only – works outing for its new Polo GTI R5 rally car as a ‘strong debut’. Petter Solberg took a third place podium finish at the 2018 Rally Spain, while Eric Camilli led the WRC 2 category for much of the event before a defect in the gearshift linkage dashed hopes of a Volkswagen victory.

The new 270bhp four-wheel drive customer sports machine made a good impression on the Spanish gravel and tarmac event and proved it was competitive to other more long-standing rivals. That’s good news for the eight customers who have so far placed orders for the €190,000 (tarmac-spec price) WRC 2 weapon. The first cars will be delivered to their international teams over the coming weeks.

Best time
The Polo GTI R5 was impressive from the off in Spain, and scored a best time on the first special stage, a feat shared by its top-flight Polo R WRC predecessor on its debut in 2013. Camilli and co-driver Benjamin Veillas initially took the WRC 2 class lead, but on the second day, when the action switched to tarmac, the pair opted for a hard tyre choice and forfeited their lead, only to be chasing for it again later in the day.

With just three tenths of a second between the Frenchmen and the eventual winners Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen, a defect in the shift linkage cost Camilli and Veillas their hopes of victory. However, on their return under Rally 2 regulations on day three, the Polo pair secured more best times, including that of the special stage on the revered ‘Riudecanyes’ section.

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Camilli/Veillas

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Camilli/Veillas

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Camilli/Veillas

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Camilli/Veillas

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Camilli/Veillas

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Camilli/Veillas

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Camilli/Veillas

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Camilli/Veillas

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Camilli/Veillas

‘Very proud’
Camilli was upbeat, despite his day two retirement: ‘There’s one thing I’d like to say first, because it’s very important to me: I enjoyed every single minute in the Polo GTI R5 this weekend, it’s so much fun driving the car. We wanted to show that the Polo is fast in all conditions – I think that we demonstrated that with best times on gravel and tarmac. With a little bit more luck Benjamin and I could have celebrated a better result, possibly even the class win. I am very proud that I was privileged to be part of this special debut.’

Elsewhere, in car number 49, Solberg and co-driver Veronica Engan caused a stir with the best time on the most challenging and longest gravel stage of the rally on their return to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) after six years away, and finished the event in a strong third position.

Ex-WRC champion Solberg was delighted: ‘What a fantastic result after six years away! It was not an easy task with just two days of testing and totally new pace notes. Which is why I am very proud of what Veronica and I achieved. A podium result on the debut – things couldn’t have gone much better.

‘We avoided all risks, and always looked for a clean line. With a little bit more of an attack, no doubt we could have come away with more. But the most important thing is that I had an incredible amount of fun in the car, and when you finish on the podium with champagne, you start to mull things over. A quick word about Sébastien Loeb: it was simply fantastic what he did here. Congratulations on his exceptional win!’ he commented.

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Rally Spain: Solberg/Engan

‘Strong debut’
Sven Smeets, Volkswagen Motorsport Director was happy, too. ‘We are really pleased with the Polo GTI R5’s debut and I think that we have completed our mission. Petter and Eric delivered top performances in very difficult conditions and helped the Polo GTI R5 make a strong debut, with both drivers getting best times.’

‘Leading the first rally ahead of strong competition and winning special stages on different surfaces is a clear sign that the new Polo GTI R5 is extremely competitive. At the same time, we know that the car has even more potential,’ Smeets disclosed.

‘The pace of the new Polo GTI R5 was good from the start,’ said Gerard-Jan de Jongh, Technical Project Lead for the Polo GTI R5. ‘Eric Camilli and Petter Solberg demonstrated that the car is competitive and fast in all conditions and with both drivers. However, a competition like the Rally Spain is always different from testing – which is why a minor defect had a major impact. But the problem with the shift linkage is an easy one to solve and eliminate before the car is delivered to customers,’ de Jongh assured.

Prospective Polo GTI R5 customers had the chance to view the car in the Rally Spain service park – especially during the transformation from gravel to tarmac spec which involved the switching of 1,025 parts in just 75 minutes – and there looks to be a number added to the 15 cars already sold. Due to be delivered by the end of the year, the first Polo GTI R5s are heading to teams in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Portugal, Paraguay and Sweden. The cars are being made at Volkswagen Motorsport’s Hannover base and the Ikarusallee crew has a goal to produce 30 to 40 Polo GTI R5s in 2019.

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