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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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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.

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The Volkswagen Polo was the seventh most popular car in the UK during February 2020, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). With 1,451 Polos finding new homes, the small Volkswagen is eighth in the year-to-date top ten rundown – a total of 3,787 have been registered since the start of 2020.

The Volkswagen Golf topped the chart with 3,457 registrations, just as the eighth-generation model starts to appear in UK retailers, with the Ford Fiesta in second place. Longstanding chart stalwarts Ford Focus, Vauxhall Corsa and Mercedes-Benz A-Class rounded out the top five.

Overall, UK registrations fell 2.9 per cent in February to 79,594 units, as demand from private buyers declined again. It was a good month for battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars, though, with 4,566 joining the UK roads but at just 5.8 per cent, their market share remains low. The UK’s top ten most popular new cars during February 2020 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) were as follows:

1 Volkswagen Golf: 3,457 (7,484, 3rd)

2 Ford Fiesta: 3,123 (9,210, 1st)
3 Ford Focus: 2,784 (8,051, 2nd)
4 Vauxhall Corsa: 1,871 (6,244, 4th)
5 Mercedes-Benz A-Class: 1,648 (4,862, 6th)
6 Vauxhall Grandland X: 1,540 (3,801, 7th)
7 Volkswagen Polo: 1,451 (3,787, 8th)
8 Mini: 1,339
9 Nissan Qashqai: 1,293 (5,901, 5th)

10 BMW 5 Series: 1,286

(The 2020 year-to-date top ten most popular cars absent from February 2020’s UK registration figures were the ninth-placed BMW 3 Series and the tenth-placed Kia Sportage with 3,648 and 3,386 units recorded respectively.)

Polo Vivo is registration champion
Once again, the Polo Vivo topped the new car registrations charts in South Africa, with 2,417 cars rolling out of retailers. The latest National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) figures state that the sixth-generation Polo was again in second place with 2,120 units sold, with an additional 10,409 exported from Volkswagen South Africa’s Uitenhage plant. The Polo-based T-Cross registered a total of 463 cars, while 540 traditionally styled Polo Sedans left the forecourts.

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