PoloDriver

2021 was a busy year for the Volkswagen Polo. Celebrating the model’s 46th anniversary, the refreshed sixth-generation car was unveiled and arrived in the UK towards the end of the year. The second-generation Polo commemorated the 40th year since its debut in the autumn of 1981.

The Polo Harlekin (Harlequin) marked its 25th birthday in 2021, and more teams took the Polo GTI R5 rally car on global stages. New models were launched in Germany, India and the UK, and the Polo’s popularity remained strong, its sales in selected markets remaining high.

Below, we round up the Polo’s biggest achievements in 2021. (Bold entries are illustrated by the picture above that particular month’s list of events.)

January

• Niclas Grönholm and Polo GTI R5 finish sixth at the 2021 Arctic Lapland Rally
• Polo Vivo crowned 2020’s most popular car in South Africa, selling 19,750 units from Volkswagen’s total sales of 53,319 units, giving the company an all-time local market share of 21.6 per cent
• Volkswagen Netherlands creates a new version of the Polo Harlequin to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original model
• Nikolay Gryzin takes his Polo GTI R5 to fifth place in the RC2 class at the 2021 Rallye Monte-Carlo
• Polo GTI R5 of Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel wins 2021 Qatar International Rally, their 15th victory at the event
• Polo Active special edition launches in Germany.

February

• Victory for the Larsen Motorsport Polo GTI R5 of Frank Tore Larsen and Morten Abrahamsen at the 2021 Lygnasprinten (image: Larsen Motorsport)
• The Polo GTI R5 of Egon Kaur and Silver Simm takes first place in the Rally2 class at the 2021 Otepää Rally. Georg Linnamäe and Volodymyr Korsia’s Polo GTI R5 finish second.

March

• 108bhp Polo Matt Edition 1.0 TSI launches in India: special features include matt grey paint, gloss black door mirror caps and rear spoiler, cruise control, multifunction steering wheel and a colour touchscreen infotainment system
• Polo GTI R5s take first and second places at the East Safari Rally with 10 out of 10 stage wins. Reigning champions Simos Galatariotis and Antonis loannou finish first ahead of Alexandros Tsouloftas and Stelios Elia
• Luca Pedersoli and Anna Tomas win Rally del Bardolino in their Polo GTI R5 – their maiden outing in the car
• First victory for Marco Signor and Francesco Pezzoli in their Polo GTI R5 at the Rally Ronde del Canavese
• Another debut win, this time for the Polo GTI R5 of Francisco Dorado and Roi Torrente at the 2021 Rallysprint de Valdelaguna
• Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov are victorious with their Polo GTI R5 at Valasská Rally ValMez
• Jurie Swart wins both races at the opening round of the 2021 Volkswagen Polo Cup in Cape Town, South Africa – the 2021 season celebrates the 25th anniversary of the one-make series. In the first round of the 2021 GTC SupaCup series, Volkswagen Motorsport South Africa Polo SupaCup driver Jonathan Mogotsi finishes second.

April

• Polo Active joins UK model range
• Refreshed MY22 Polo revealed in digital online premiere featuring more digital technology and updated looks
• Sixth-generation Polo evaluated for possible Indian launch on MQB A0 IN platform
• Carl Flash Tundo and Tim Jessop win the FIA African Rally Championship Equator Rally Kenya in their Polo GTI R5
• Kristian Poulsen and Ole R Fredriksen win Rally Himmerland, round one of the Danish Rally Championship – the second victory for Polo GTI R5 chassis #44 in Denmark
• First place for Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel’s Polo GTI R5 at Rallye Tierras Altas de Lorca
• Tomasz Kasperczyk and Damian Syty win the 2021 Tech-Mol Rally in their Polo GTI R5. Zbigniew Gabrys and Krzysztof Janik’s Polo GTI R5 also finishes on the podium at the first rally of the year in Poland.

May

• MY22 Polo GTI revealed in official Volkswagen design sketch
• Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel win the Jordan Rally in a Polo GTI R5 – their ninth overall victory in the Volkswagen rally car
• 1-2 for the Polo GTI R5 at the Larnaca Rally – Alexandros Tsouloftas and Stelios Elia win the event, followed by Simos Galatariotis and Antonis loannou
• Jurie Stewart and Arnold Neveling victorious in the Volkswagen Polo Cup races held at Aldo Scribante, near Gqeberha. Jonathan Mogotsi drives his Polo SupaCup to a maiden win during the GTC SupaCup race
• Volkswagen Polo named the third most popular car in the UK during May 2021.

June

• The Polo GTI R5s of Osian Pryce and Noel O’Sullivan and reigning champions Matt Edwards and Darren Garrod debut at first round of the 2021 British Rally Championship at Oulton Park
• 1-2 for the Polo GTI R5 at the Super Prime Alpasa rally in Paraguay. Miguel Zaldivar Jr and Victor Aguilera finish first, followed by Diego Dominguez Sr and Edgardo Galindo
• 2022 Volkswagen Polo order books open in Germany
• Refreshed MY22 Polo GTI revealed with updated looks, DSG and 204bhp
• Frank Tore Larsen and Morten Abrahamsen steer their Polo GTI R5 to victory at the 2021 Aurskog-Holand Rally
• Volkswagen Polo named the sixth most popular car in the UK during June 2021
• With 11,560 cars finding homes in the first six months of the year, the Polo Vivo remains the most popular new car in South Africa. In second place, the sixth-generation Polo sells 9,045 examples.

July

• RacingLine releases Polo GTI ‘AW’ sport springs and turbo muffler delete products
• Volkswagen Polo crowned the UK’s most popular car, based on official registration figures, finishing ahead of the Toyota Yaris and Kia Sportage.

August

• The second-generation Polo celebrates four decades since it was launched to the press in Sardinia
• Jurie Stewart, Arnold Neveling, and Leyton Fourie win one Volkswagen Polo Cup race each at the East London Grand Prix circuit.

September

• The new MY22 Polo goes on sale in the UK, priced from £17,885 to £23,355
• Polo Trendline MPI, Comfortline TSI, Highline Plus TSI manual, and Highline Plus TSI and GT TSI automatic models demand a five-month waiting list in India, along with the Polo saloon-based Vento Highline TSI manual
• Sixteen-year-old Leyton Fourie claims both South African Volkswagen Polo Cup wins at the Red Star Raceway.

October

• Jurie Stewart wins Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa races at Zwartops Raceway.

November

• MY22 Polo GTI joins the UK model range with a starting price of £26,430
• Polo Vivo Black Style launches in South Africa. Special equipment includes black 16-inch ‘Portago’ alloy wheels, gloss black mirror caps, roof and B and C pillar covers, black sill covers, a body-coloured boot spoiler, privacy glass, a chrome exhaust tip as well as anthracite headlining and sun visors
• Autocar publishes its first UK drive of the new MY22 Polo.

December

• What Car? long lists Polo as a Car of the Year Awards 2022 small car entrant
• Auto Express, Carbuyer and What Car? publish the first UK drives of the new MY22 Polo
• MY22 Polo announced for sale in South Africa from January 2022
• 2022 Volkswagen Polo Cup unveils CompCare Medical Scheme as sponsor; Jurie Stewart wins Killarney races at final round of 2021 series, but Leyton Fourie crowned 2021 Volkswagen Polo Cup champion
• South African Volkswagen Polo GTC SupaCup tested during Killarney 9-Hour race ready for 2022 season
• A panel of broadcasters, car designers, engineers, motorsport legends and auto industry journalists and media professionals announces MY22 Polo as one of the Best Cars of the Year 2021/2022 award winners in tenth place.

As another year passes, we would like to thank our readers and followers old and new, and we’ve got lots more stories and features coming to the website in 2022.

[Click on the ‘Polo 2017-’, ‘Polo Vivo’, ‘Polo GTI R5’ and ‘Motorsport’ tags in the category drop-down list in the right-hand sidebar to see all entries relating to the sixth-generation Polo, Polo GTI R5, and Polo motorsport activity respectively. Choose other category or month sections for relevant entries.]

The Volkswagen Polo Vivo is the most popular car in South Africa – and has been for over a decade –  and if you like a certain colour, it may have just got even more appealing. Volkswagen South Africa has added the Black Style Package to its entry level model. The pack has been an option on the Tiguan and Touareg since 2019.

Features of the Polo Vivo Black Style include, as you might expect, black 16-inch ‘Portago’ alloy wheels, gloss black mirror caps, a gloss black (really?) painted roof, gloss black (yes!) B and C pillar covers, as well as (you can see where this is going), matt black sill covers. There’s also a chrome exhaust tip, privacy glass, anthracite headlining and sun visors, 15mm lower suspension and an R-Line body coloured rear spoiler.

Choice of four colours
And the body of the Polo Vivo Black Style comes in a choice of four colours: Flash Red, Pure White, Reef Blue, and Reflex Silver. The optional Black Style Package is available now on the 85/103bhp Comfortline and 103bhp Highline manual versions of the Polo Vivo. Prices start at R9,000 on the Comfortline and R8,250 on the Highline. The Polo Vivo Black Style follows the most recent special edition of the Polo Vivo, the Mswenko, introduced back in September 2020.

The Black Style Package has also been introduced to the latest South African Golf GTI. Like the Polo Vivo, the clue is in the name, and if you like black, you’re well catered for. Features include piano black side mirrors, a piano black front grille chrome strip on the front grille, as well as black 18-inch ‘Bergamo’ alloy wheels. Prices for the Golf 8 GTI Black Style Package begin at R8,000. 

‘Popular optional pack’
The Tiguan and Touareg Black Style models continue, the optional pack costing R28,000 on the former, and 
R45,200 on the latter (but only available on the Executive variant). ‘The Black Style Package is a popular optional pack and its success in the Tiguan and Touareg models motivated our decision to introduce it to the new Golf GTI and the Polo Vivo ranges,’ states Steffen Knapp, head of the Volkswagen Passenger Car Brand.

Since its introduction in March 2010, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo has been the most popular car in South Africa, with over 261,285 registered up to September 2020. Originally based on the fourth-generation European Polo, the Vivo took the shape of the fifth-generation Polo in February 2018.

Volkswagen South Africa has celebrated a production milestone with the 400,000th sixth-generation Polo produced at its Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) factory. The landmark car built on 21 June appears to be a Flash Red Polo GTI – the sixth-generation Polo range has been built at Kariega since September 2017.

Of the 400,000 sixth-generation Polos built at Kariega over the past four years, 326,214 have been exported, the remaining 73,768 cars made for the local market. Polos built in Kariega are exported to all global right-hand-drive markets worldwide (including the UK), while the factory also supplements production for left-hand-drive markets.

‘Proud moment’
‘This is a proud moment for our team, who have proven their dedication to delivering for our customers abroad and in South Africa,’ said Ulrich Schwabe, production director at Volkswagen South Africa. ‘I would like to thank every employee, whether on the production line, in the office or working from home, for continuously striving for excellence. This milestone could not have happened without their contributions.’

So far this year, 61,635 sixth-generation Polos and 10,373 Polo Vivos (Volkswagen South Africa’s entry level model based on the fifth-generation Polo) have rolled off the Kariega lines. In 2017, Volkswagen South Africa celebrated the 1,250,000th Polo built at Kariega, which is situated 1,000km from Johannesburg.

Kariega is just one location where Polos are built. They also roll off Volkswagen production lines at Anchieta in Brazil, Pamplona in Spain – where production began in 1984 – and Pune in India.

Volkswagen Group South Africa took the vehicle registrations top spot for 2020 in the local market, with the Polo Vivo once again crowned the country’s most popular new car. A total of 19,750 units of Volkswagen South Africa’s entry-level model were registered in the pandemic-hit year, almost a third of the VW-brand’s 53,319 recorded registrations.

The sixth-generation Polo-based T-Cross SUV was South Africa’s most popular imported car, with 5,693 units registered. Now the country’s second most popular vehicle in the A0 SUV segment, the T-Cross has fast found favour, on sale in South Africa for less than two years.

A total of 63,482 vehicles were registered by Volkswagen Group South Africa in 2020 and the Volkswagen brand’s market share of 21.6 per cent is the highest in the company’s long history in South Africa. Audi also ended the year with an improved market share, up to 18.5 per cent, and even Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles enjoyed a record full-year 3.7 per cent piece of the light commercial pie. The Audi Q2 and Volkswagen Caddy were the respective star players.

‘A challenging year’
‘2020 was a challenging year not just for our brands but for the motoring industry as a whole and to come out of 2020 still holding onto our leadership of the passenger car market is an incredible feat,’ stated Mike Glendinning, Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) sales and marketing director.

‘VWSA was severely affected by the pandemic which ground vehicle sales to a halt in April; our 2020 sales are down by 28.9 per cent year-on-year when compared to 2019,’ said Glendinning. ‘Despite the difficulties we faced, the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand posted a record market share last year; the 21.6 per cent market share is 1.2 per cent higher than that of 2019 and is the highest market share in the history of the brand, as well as the highest market share of Volkswagen markets across the world,’ Glendinning added.

Production milestone
In November 2020, Volkswagen South Africa’s Uitenhage factory celebrated the four millionth car to roll off its lines. Currently the home of the Polo for local and export markets, as well as the Polo Vivo, the plant built 75,521 Polos for export up until the celebratory milestone, as well as 12,804 units for local consumption. A total of 17,038 Polo Vivos were also produced for the local market, the only one in which it is sold.

It looks to be another busy year for Volkswagen South Africa, with the brand celebrating its 70th birthday in August 2021. The year will be kickstarted by the arrival of the eighth-generation Golf GTI, followed later by the new Golf R and refreshed Tiguan. New versions of the Caddy and T6.1 Kombi will also debut. In the wider group sphere, Audi’s new A3 will also appear, along with refreshed versions of the RS 4, RS 5, RS 6, RS 7, RS Q8, RS Q3, and R8.

Steffan Knapp has also replaced Martina Biene as the head of the Volkswagen Passenger Car Brand in South Africa, and joins from Volkswagen India where he successfully turned the brand around. The fifth-generation Polo and its Vento saloon sister were launched there in 2010.

Elsewhere in the world, the sixth-generation Polo was the eighth most popular car in the UK, with 26,965 units registered (with grey the most popular colour – what a very imaginative bunch the British car buying public is!). According to focus2move.com, up until December 2020, the Polo was also the third most popular car in Europe during the year, its 225,941-unit total down 27.5 per cent compared to 2019. Behind its second-placed Golf sibling (283,614 units) and the top-spot Renault Clio (314,357 units), over 14 million Polos have been produced since its introduction in 1975.

Riding on a decade of success, a new special edition derivative of the Polo Vivo has been launched in South Africa. The Polo Vivo Mswenko has been named after the isZulu word for ‘swag’, which is an expression of attitude and confidence in the Bantu language of the Zulus. Aimed at ‘dynamic and young at heart’ buyers, the R246,900 Polo Vivo Mswenko has some eye-catching features.

Outside, there are ‘Mswenko’ (pronounced ‘m-swe-nkoh’) diamond door decals, a black roof, coloured mirror caps, 16-inch anthracite ‘Portago’ alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, and a chrome exhaust tip. Inside, there are even more statement features. The most notable change over a standard Polo Vivo are the very bright ‘Ocean Blue’ seats, but there is also anthracite headlining, silver dashboard inserts, six speakers, a leather-trimmed multi-function steering wheel and gear knob, and App Connect.

Style and attitude
Along with that little lot, and the available four colours – Limestone Grey, Pure White, Reef Blue, and Reflex Silver – the Polo Vivo Mswenko should easily live up to the ‘mswenko’ tag. In South Africa, a self-confident and stylish person is said to have ‘swag’. The word ‘mswenko’, which is unique to South Africa, also refers to a person’s style, attitude and general demeanour.

In Volkswagen South Africa dealers from October 2020, the Polo Vivo Mswenko is based on the 1.4-litre 63kW Polo Vivo Comfortline, and costs R246,900. A three-year/120,000km warranty is standard, along with a six-year anti-corrosion warranty. A Volkswagen Maintenance Plan as well as a Volkswagen Service Plan are available as options, and service intervals are 15,000kms.

Since its introduction in March 2010, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo has been the most popular car in South Africa, with over 261,285 registered. Originally based on the fourth-generation European Polo, the Vivo took the shape of the fifth-generation Polo in February 2018. One of the reasons for its success may be that its cost of ownership over a three-year cycle makes it one of the most affordable cars to own in the South African market. Proof that swag confidence is more than style deep.