PoloDriver

It may be raining outside, but here’s something to brighten all prospective new Polo GTI owners’ moods. Is this the first customer 2010 Polo GTI in the country? Our entry reporting on the first UK magazine road tests of the new hotshot Polo has become something of a mini-forum, with Polo GTI-owners-to-be who have placed orders with their local Volkswagen retailers commenting about the various build stages of ‘their’ cars. It seems that the latest Polo GTI is something of a hot ticket right now, and prospective buyers can wait anything between 12 weeks and 6 months for cars to arrive. Our special correspondent collects his car tomorrow and it’s pictured here in the retailer’s parking lot, resplendent in its Flash Red paint and protective polythene. In something of an exclusive, we hope to bring you the proud new owner’s first impressions over the next few days.

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Volkswagen has recently had to close its Uitenhage plant due to industrial action by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) in the component industry. The closure at the start of the month has hit right-hand drive export Polo production (including early builds of the new GTI model, with some prospective UK Polo owners reporting delays in their cars arriving). While there was no strike at the plant itself, the company was bracing itself for a ‘substantial loss of volume’ from the fall in production numbers of export and local market Polos, as well as a decline in output of the highly successful South African-only Polo Vivo.

‘The company deeply regrets this unavoidable situation, particularly as the company was starting to recover from an eight-day motor manufacturing industry-wide strike, which also severely impacted customer deliveries’, Volkswagen said when asked about the situation. We suggest that if you have a five-door UK-bound Polo on order, keep up to date with your Volkswagen retailer for news of its arrival. Three-door Polo UK deliveries shouldn’t be affected, as these cars are manufactured at the Volkswagen Group’s Pamplona plant in Spain.

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Following on from its junior hot hatch group test starring role in the July 2010 issue of CAR, the new Polo GTI has recently been given a full workout for the magazine’s website. The arrival of the 178bhp performance-orientated Polo seems to have been delayed with extended build dates reported, as well as a shortage of dealer stock, but it should hopefully be worth the wait. CAR reports that although ‘Volkswagen’s new Polo GTI is a very competent car, its rivals are raucous and delightful, or chic and stylish, and the VW seems to ignore both camps and offer something more refined.’ So it may be no firecracker like the red hot Renaultsport Clio 200 (or the even more extreme and on-edge ‘Cup’ versions), but what’s wrong with that? Volkswagen GTIs have always offered refinement and classless practically with a sporting edge, and the latest Polo GTI, at first glance at least, seems to continue that tradition.

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Last month, as a further marketing exercise for the new Polo GTI, Volkswagen exhibited the car at gamescom, Europe’s largest electronic games show in Cologne. To support the launch, from 18-22 August, visitors could also experience virtual Polo GTI-powered Volkswagen Racing Cup simulators, with the best drivers receiving real-life safety training from VW’s young driver programme. Winners of the awards were announced by Hamburg-based German rapper Samy Deluxe (no, we don’t know who he is either), who is involved in the musical support of the Volkswagen Sound Foundation.

A white Polo GTI was centre stage on the Volkswagen stand in Hall 9, and is the first car to be actively marketed on social networks by the German company. Hitting cyberspace communities only a few weeks ago, the Facebook ‘Fast Lane – Driven by Fun’ campaign is primarily aimed at young drivers, with interactive videos and competitions, to drum up interest in the new performance Polo. Digital eGames are very much now part of Volkswagen’s international marketing arsenal, and the company has its own Facebook electronic games channel at www.facebook.com/volkswagen.egames

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The countdown to the eagerly-awaited Polo GTI continues. While the flurry of left-hooker first drives has died down, there are still initial impressions to be found, most obviously online. Yes, the date of this first drive may be 10 June, but this test is still significant. Motor Trend is a well-respected US motoring title and this piece is penned by well-respected – and well-connected it would seem – UK auto scribe, Paul Horrell. The Polo isn’t currently sold Stateside, and rumours still persist of a forthcoming introduction there. However, recent reports state that any possible US-market ‘Hello’ may now not happen, but as potential buyers pestered VW to import the Series 5 1.8T Polo GTI of 2006, they’ll arguably like this new and more powerful version even more. Head over to Motor Trend and see if the smaller Polo GTI can cut it with its larger cousins, the Golf and Scirocco Rs.

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