Polo Vivo and Polo dominate April 2011’s small car segment in South Africa
Is there no stopping the Polo Vivo? Once again, it was the best-selling car in South Africa in April 2011, according to figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), posting an impressive sales tally of 2221 units. It was good news for the Polo 6R – 2011 South African Car of the Year – too, as it was once more behind its stablemate, in second place with 1955 cars finding new owners. During April 2011, a total of 26,347 new passenger cars were sold in South Africa, a decline of 25.1% when compared to March, but a rise of 11.7% when compared to April 2010. South African year-to-date sales of new passenger cars in 2011 are now 22.4% above January to April sales in 2010.
‘Volkswagen Group South Africa captured 24.3% of the passenger market in April with 6428 units sold. Polo Vivo again dominated the market, with Polo a close second. Just over a year after its launch, we are still elated by the reaction from the market to our entry-level Polo Vivo,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director of Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa. The Polo Vivo was launched in March 2010 as an entry-level model for the South African market, replacing the Series 1 Golf-based CitiGolf, and is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R104,065 for the 1.4 hatchback to R156,220 for the top 1.6 Sedan, the 2011 Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo, (9N3) built from 2005 to 2009.