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The letters ‘GT’ have been associated with the Volkswagen Polo since 1979, appearing on sports models such as the original Polo GT, the Polo GT G40 of the 1980s, the Polo GT hatchback and coupé of the 1990s, various GT models in the early 2000s, and the Polo BlueGT in the 2010s. In South Africa, they adorn the model which sits atop the Polo Vivo family, and for 2023, the Polo Vivo GT gets a tidy up.

Sports-orientated styling
The second generation of Volkswagen South Africa’s entry level model, the Polo Vivo, launched in 2018, bringing with it the 109bhp/81kW Polo Vivo GT. A not-quite-GTI model, focused on more sports-orientated styling than performance, the 2023 VW Polo Vivo GT shares its 1.0 TSI engine with the car launched five years ago, but the exterior and interior have been given a few tweaks.

Externally, the freshened up car features silver mirror caps – replacing the colour-coded items of before – more subtle front door and tailgate graphics, a silver ‘GT’ front grille badge and the new ‘flatter’ Volkswagen roundel, first introduced in 2019. The black rear hatch spoiler and 17-inch ‘Mirabeau’ alloy wheels are the same as the previous car, but a new Wild Cherry Red Metallic paint shade ensures the 2023 Polo Vivo GT stands out.

Inside, silver inserts adorn the top areas of the dashboard, while the cloth seat insert stitching colour is now red rather than blue. The grey gear lever and handbrake cover stitching now match the silver exterior accents. ‘GT’-embroided floor mats complete the interior makeover. Other standard equipment of the flagship Polo Vivo model includes anthracite interior headlining, cruise control, ‘Lights and Vision’ package, as well as 15mm lowered suspension.

The Recommended Retail Price (VAT and emissions tax included) for the 2023 Volkswagen Polo Vivo GT is R332,800. A three-year/120,000km warranty and a six-year anti-corrosion warranty is standard, with a Volkswagen EasyDrive Maintenance Plan and EasyDrive Service Plan available as options. Service intervals are 15,000 km.

Most popular car in South Africa
Since the introduction of the second generation Polo Vivo, itself based on the fifth-generation Polo built from 2009-2017, almost 120,000 units have rolled off the Kariega production lines. The Polo Vivo GT first appeared in 2011 based on the first-generation Polo Vivo, which was originally a facelifted fourth-generation Polo, built from 2005-2009. First introduced in 2010, and very often South Africa’s most popular car, the Polo Vivo nameplate has since cumulatively recorded 313,620 registrations.

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The 100,000th sixth-generation Polo for the South African market rolled off Volkswagen South Africa’s Kariega production line on 1 March, during the night shift. The plant has been building the current ‘AW’ model since January 2018, with production of the latest refreshed version beginning in August 2021.

Overall, of the 100,000-vehicle total, 80,644 cars were pre-facelift models, the remaining 19,356 being refreshed versions. Figures released by Volkswagen South Africa from the most recent milestone report that the most popular colour for the local market Polo is Pure White with 36,965 cars made in that shade. Second is Reflex Silver (17,607 units made), followed by Limestone Grey Metallic (10,350 units built).

The latest milestone is one of several Volkswagen South Africa has celebrated in the past few months. In May 2022, the one millionth Polo was made for export (see figures below), and the 500,000th global market ‘AW’ current generation Polo was built two months later. Destined for Germany, the 100,000th global market refreshed ‘AW’ Polo – a Pure White GTI – rolled out of Kariega in August 2022. The two-millionth unit of the Polo and Polo Vivo – a South African entry level model based on the global market fifth-generation Polo originally manufactured from 2009-2017 – was completed on 6 December 2022. The 100,000th second generation Polo Vivo was produced in January 2022.

In addition to local market Polos and Polo Vivos, Volkswagen South Africa builds the Polo for all right-hand drive markets, as well as selected left-hand drive territories. The Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) factory is also the sole manufacturing plant for the current ‘AW’ Polo GTI. The plant first started building Polos in 1996, with the first exports leaving the factory in 2002 for Japan. Polos are currently exported to over 38 countries. In May Volkswagen South Africa employed 3,619 people, including 2,233 production employees, with the capacity to build 680 vehicles per day.

‘Though the majority of our Polos are built for export markets, we are incredibly proud of how popular this vehicle is among South African customers,’ said Ulrich Schwabe, production director, Volkswagen South Africa (pictured above with sales and marketing director Thomas Milz). ‘This includes our employees, who build these high quality cars with pride, and whose dedication and love for our vehicles has made this milestone possible.’

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Volkswagen South Africa has reason to celebrate. The Polo Vivo, Polo and Polo-based T-Cross small SUV have been named the most popular Volkswagens in South Africa during 2022. The small VW trio accounted for 74 per cent of all Volkswagen South Africa registrations last year.

The fifth-generation Polo-based Polo Vivo led Volkswagen South Africa’s small car charge, with 20,866 examples registered. The sixth-generation Polo was runner-up with 15,697 units finding new owners. The T-Cross SUV enjoyed 10,384 registrations. Overall, Volkswagen South Africa registered 58,447 passenger cars in 2022, giving the brand a market share of 16.4 per cent. An additional 5,154 commercial vehicle registrations were led by the Amarok, of which 1,896 units found new homes.

Other popular 2022 South African Volkswagens included the brand’s T-SUV range, which includes the Tiguan (2,613 units), T-Roc (2,407) and the recently launched Taigo (1,885 units). The Touareg also enjoyed an uplift in registrations by 9 per cent when compared to 2021, and despite stock and parts shortages, the Golf was also more popular – an increase to 639 units meant an increase in registrations by 109 per cent.

Polo Vivo GT upgrade
There’s little reason for Volkswagen South Africa not to continue its success in 2023. An upgrade to the range-topping Polo Vivo GT is set to arrive, along with a TSI version of the new Polo Sedan. There is also the impending introduction of the T-Cross Trendline, new Golf 8 R, Tiguan TDI, and a facelift for the Touareg.

Continuing the Polo’s South African popularity, Volkswagen South Africa exported 98,315 Polos from its Kariega manufacturing plant to 38 international countries last year, and overall, exported 8,942 more vehicles in 2022 when compared to 2021. The two-millionth unit of the Polo and Polo Vivo rolled off the factory lines on 6 December 2022, the milestone model being a left-hand drive Ascot Grey car destined for Germany.

Sole Polo GTI manufacturer
The Kariega factory builds the Polo for all right-hand-drive markets and supplements production for left-hand-drive territories. The plant is also the sole manufacturer worldwide of the Polo GTI, and builds the Polo Vivo for the local market.

Kariega also celebrated the manufacture of its 500,000th example of the current Polo in July 2022, the car – a white left-hand-drive Polo GTI destined for France – produced four-and-a-half years after the introduction of the sixth-generation model, and a few months after the arrival of the refreshed model at the start of 2022. Of the 500,000 ‘AW’ Polos made, 90,004 were built for the local market and 409,996 were exported, 77,397 units of those being the facelifted model.

Volkswagen South Africa also celebrated the one-millionth Polo built for export in May 2022, the landmark car heading to the UK. The Kariega plant has been building Polos since 1996, and the Polo Vivo since 2010. At the time the two-millionth vehicle was built, the plant had manufactured 1,626,816 Polos (1,065,718 for export and 561,098 for the local market), along with 373,184 Polo Vivos.

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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.

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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.

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