PoloDriver

On 19 March, to spectacular fanfare, Volkswagen formally launched the new Polo Vivo at the Sun City Superbowl. The company gathered Volkswagen fans from all over South Africa and treated them to a concert to celebrate the new car’s arrival. Not only were there pyrotechnics a plenty, but also a ‘flying’ Polo Vivo precariously suspended from the 6000-seat Superbowl’s ceiling. Among the acts entertaining the ecstatic crowd were Big NUZ, Freshlyground, Kelly Clarkson, The Parlotones, TKZee and Westlife. Click here for more pictures.

[Images: CelebrateVW]

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Now that the marketing machine has swung into action, Volkswagen South Africa has aired the first new TV commercial for the entry-level Polo Vivo. Created by Ogilvy Cape Town and with ‘So much to celebrate,’ the 60-second spot plays on the feelgood factor of the car that Volkswagen wants to use to capture potential Polo Vivo owners. The company will be hoping that, like the on-screen bystanders in the spot, prospective Vivo drivers will be carried along by a wave of euphoria for its new baby…

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Volkswagen South Africa has finally updated its website to list the new Polo Vivo among its model range. The new entry level Series 4F Polo/Polo Playa-based Volkswagen will, the company says, ‘set new benchmarks in its category for affordability, quality, safety, space and comfort.’ The Polo Vivo’s mission is a very simple one: to make motoring accessible to more South Africans (notably first-time buyers and pensioners, who may well then graduate to the new Polo, natch).

The hatchback and sedan are on sale now with 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre engines, starting at R101,500 for the base-model 1.4. It’s a popular car, too, with demand outstripping supply; Volkswagen South Africa says that 71,500 have been ‘exported’ so far (from a 50,000 target), the highest ever recorded. ‘So much to celebrate’ is the marketing message, and with that in mind, we thought we’d let you know that both wallpapers and a screensaver for your computer desktop are available to herald the Polo Vivo’s arrival. Preview them below and grab them here (click on ‘Wallpapers’).

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We don’t mind admitting that this was a surprise. For 25 years, the entry point into Volkswagen South Africa’s (VWSA) range was the Citi Golf, a heavily revised version of the Series 1 Golf. With the original Golf’s lifespan running from 1974 to 1983, VWSA decided to keep building the car it had been manufacturing locally since 1978, turning it into an inexpensive locally-made affordable base model. The Citi Golf did extremely well and in January 2010, more than a quarter of a century since it was first launched, the final car went on sale. Last week its successor was unveiled and, to be honest, it wasn’t what we were expecting.

The Polo Vivo is the company’s new entry-level car in the affordable A0 segment. Based on a heavily-revised and facelifted Series 4 (9N3) Polo, the newcomer gets a new slimline front grille and sculpted bumpers, all bearing more than a passing resemblance to those fitted to the new fifth-generation (6R) Polo launched in 2009. Other changes include the removal of the side rubbing strips and relocated side repeaters which now sit in the headlamps, moved down from the door mirrors.

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The UK’s Autocar reports that Volkswagen will is currently contemplating its motorsport future, and, excitingly, a decision to enter the 2012 World Rally Championship (WRC). The company will make a final decision on its motorsport plans later next month, but if the WRC promoters can convince the German giant of the series’ worth, a new 2.0-litre, 200bhp-plus Polo rally car could well be in the offing.

A tarmac or gravel-spec motorsport Polo is nothing new. Volkswagen launched the club-level Volkswagen Polo Rally Challenge in 2001 and officially fielded a Super 1600 version of the Polo GTI around the same time. There were Series 4 Polo-based rally cars, too, with entries in events in South Africa and Europe from 2002. Super 2000 (S2000) Polos were even running in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge as late as year. If WRC participation becomes a reality and the new Polo goes rallying, it will add yet another motorsport string to its bow; the track-based Volkswagen Polo Cup India starts in June.

Now that the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup championship has been replaced by a Scirocco-based series and with the WRC reportedly switching to S2000 cars in 2011, the time could be right for a new motorsport version of the Polo. Autocar states that even Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen thinks a new Polo (or Golf) rally car could be a possibility: ‘If we decided to go with the WRC, my view is that we would need at least a year and a half to prepare, so we would be looking at coming in for 2012,’ he said.

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