PoloDriver

Establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with last month by driving into the UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for January 2010, the Polo has repeated the feat for February. Released this week, the figures show that although the Polo slipped three places to number seven, its Golf stablemate actually improved its standing, rising to number three from six in the first month of the year.

While the Polo was still 1336 units clear of challenging its class rival Ford Fiesta for the top spot, it sold 301 units more than the eighth best-selling car, the BMW 3 Series. Rising for the eighth sequential month, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders state that the UK’s February’s sales were actually up 26.4%. The full list of what sold what is as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 3236 units
2 Ford Focus: 3035 units
3 Volkswagen Golf: 2586 units
4 Vauxhall Astra: 2524 units
5 Vauxhall Corsa: 2391 units
6 Hyundai i10: 1938 units
7 Volkswagen Polo: 1900 units
8 BMW 3 Series: 1599 units
9 Kia Picanto: 1573 units
10 Peugeot 207: 1422 units

These latest encouraging Polo sales figures come just as the German consumer magazine Guter Rat have awarded the Polo the Best Compact Car 2010 award.

Lower consumption and emissions combine with higher driving dynamics

Currently the Polo’s most powerful engine until the GTI comes along in the summer, the 1.2-litre TSI unit is one of the family of Volkswagen’s TSI powerplants that have been awarded the environmental commendation certified by TÜV Nord. The Life Cycle Assessment on which the commendation is based confirms that the TSI engines have significantly improved environmental characteristics compared with the predecessor models throughout their life cycle thanks to their smaller engine size and lower fuel consumption – while at the same time evidencing higher driving dynamics.

It’s not the first time Volkswagen has won awards for its engine and gearbox technology; last year the automotive giant won three prestigious ‘Engine of the Year Awards’. After the DSG dual-clutch transmission, the TSI engine tech, the second of the three basic technologies in the BlueMotion Technologies brand, has confirmed its outstanding Life Cycle Assessment. BlueMotion Technologies is the Volkswagen umbrella brand for all environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient products and technologies. Thanks to a reduction in engine capacity, the TSI engines significantly lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

For commendation, a 1.4 TSI engine with 120bhp was compared with a 1.6 FSI engine with 114bhp, while a second test compared the Polo’s 1.2 TSI unit with 104bhp and a 1.6 MPI engine with 100bhp. The environmental commendations, which are based on Life Cycle Assessments pursuant to ISO 14040/44, investigate the environmental characteristics of vehicles or technologies throughout their entire life cycle, from manufacture through use to recycling. The environmental commendation is only issued if the overall performance of the new development is better than that of the respective predecessor.

Volkswagen’s new design language is clearly starting to attract the right attention. The Polo has received a gold product design award from the International Forum Design (iF), based in Hannover. The awards which ‘have been a reliable indicator of outstanding quality in design,’ are judged by a jury of 24 international design experts, and denote ‘proven design quality’ according to the German organisation.

Praising the excellent combination of exterior and interior design of the latest version of Volkswagen’s small car, the jury stated that the new Polo is ‘A very successful, striking design for a small car. Both outside and inside is clearly designed and with great functionality. Even more emphasis is placed on the essentials, and there is an excellent combination of interior and exterior design as a logical development of a series.’

The designers of the fifth-generation Polo, Urs Rahmel and Gustav Hofmann (pictured above), accepted the award at the formal iF Design Awards 2010 ceremony last Tuesday, where it was also revealed that the Volkswagen’s latest supermini star was the sole recipient of the gold award in the iF Design Awards 2010 ‘Transportation Design’ category. The latest achievement in the new Polo’s CV will be recorded in a public and online exhibition and the design award 2010 yearbook.

It’s already been crowned European Car of the Year 2010, but the Polo is now in the running for the World Car of the Year 2010 title. Last month we reported on the model’s success in the preliminary voting by the 59 international motoring journalist jurors where it made it into the initial top ten, but now there’s even better news; the car has now made it to the final list of three. Announced at the Geneva motor show this week, the Polo is doing battle with the Mercedes E-Class and the Toyota Prius. Fingers crossed – the winner will be announced at the New York International Auto Show on 1 April.

With the Mk 6 Golf the overall winner in 2009, can Volkswagen make it two years in a row? Start the discussion by leaving a comment below.

Not content with being named as European Car of the Year 2010, the new Polo is also contesting the World Car of the Year 2010 title. An award from across the Pond, the new fifth-generation has made the final shortlist of ten cars for the award, now in its seventh year.

Drawn up in a secret ballot by 59 international motoring journalist jurors, who represent (among others) Asia, Europe, North America and South America, the ten cars in the running for World Car of the Year 2010 are:

• Audi Q5
• BMW X1
• Chevrolet Cruze
• Kia Soul
• Mazda3
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class
• Opel/Vauxhall Insignia/Buick Regal
• Porsche Panamera
• Toyota Prius
• Volkswagen Polo

A final round of voting will take place later this month, after the judging panel have re-evaluated the top ten cars, rating them in terms of overall merit, value, safety, environmental responsibility, emotional appeal and significance (whatever that may be).

The top three finalists for World Car of the Year 2010 (and sister gong World Performance Car of the Year 2010) will be announced at the Geneva motor show on Tuesday 2 March 2010, with the winners revealed at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday 1 April 2010. Will the Polo win? We’d be surprised as it’s not currently sold in the US, but Volkswagen is no stranger to the World Car of the Year podium – the Mk 6 Golf won the coveted award last year.

Do you think the Polo should be crowned Word Car of the Year 2010 in addition to European Car of the Year 2010? Start the discussion by leaving a comment below.