PoloDriver

If you’re here, you’re probably aware the Volkswagen Polo celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, and today marks another important date in its history. The first-generation Polo was presented to the international media from 16-22 March 1975, following the beginning of production not quite two weeks earlier.

The international press presentation and driving event was staged in Hanover, 55 miles west from Volkwagen’s Wolfsburg headquarters. We like the idea of tens of brightly-coloured Polos whizzing around the streets of the Lower Saxony capital city – the scene would be similar to this footage of the August 1974 Audi 50 press launch in Sardinia – and venturing out onto the vast and empty autobahns to cruise flat out at a top speed of 82mph…

Volkswagen’s smallest model in its new wave of water-cooled cars was also on show at the 48th Salon de L’Auto Geneve – the Geneva motor show – having been unveiled there on 13 March 1975. On display until the show’s end on 23 March, a gleaming Marino Yellow Polo L took centre stage on an underlit revolving platform, with a few others scattered about around it. This fantastic video shows some rare footage of the event, and doesn’t our star of the show look fabulous?

In this 50th anniversary year, we’ll have more posts on notable dates and models, but for now, head to our heritage pages to learn more about the history of the Polo, and in particular, how the first-generation Polo arrived as a cut-price version of the Audi 50, outliving its more expensive relative by four years. Happy international media presentation birthday, Polo!

The Volkswagen Polo celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, and there is a reason to celebrate today. On 5 March 1975, production of the Polo began at VW’s Wolfsburg plant. The almost identical Audi 50 was already rolling off Wolfsburg’s production lines, having been launched in August 1974.

Volkswagen’s headquarters site at Wolfsburg would be the sole production home of the Polo until 1984, when the small VW began to be assembled in SEAT’s plant at Pamplona in Spain. This became the site most synonymous with Polo production, the last model coming off the lines in July 2024 after a 40-year run.

The picture above is said to be one of the first, if not the first, image of the new small VW of the Seventies, and the car that completed Volkswagen’s then-new water-cooled line-up. The Polo wouldn’t be seen in public until its launch at the 1975 Geneva motor show around two weeks after the start of production, but the car had been mooted to arrive for several months before. In a synchronistic twist, Volkswagen will unveil the concept version of its ID 1 electric car later today, which, like the first-generation Polo, will be the smallest car in the Volkswagen family.

In this 50th anniversary year, we’ll have more posts on notable dates and models, but for now, head to our heritage pages to learn more about the history of the Polo, and in particular, how the first-generation Polo arrived as a cut-price version of the Audi 50, outliving its more expensive relative by four years. Happy production birthday, Polo!

The Volkswagen Polo now has more reason to celebrate in 2025! Alongside the marking of its 50th birthday, it has been named the Best Car of the Half Century as part of the Best Cars of the Year – The New Car World Championships. It is the second consecutive year a Volkswagen has scooped the prize, the Golf being the 2024 recipient, the same year it celebrated its 50th anniversary.

The Best Car of the Half Century title plays a significant role in the annual British Motor Show, which this year is due to take place at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre on 15-17 August. Visitors to the event will be able to see the Polo, and learn why it has been the supermini of choice for millions of people for the past 50 years.

The New Car World Championships judging panel responsible for the award comprises a who’s who of international motoring experts, including auto industry figureheads, automotive consultants, broadcasters, car designers and engineers, journalists, media professionals, motor club chiefs, motoring event organisers, motorsport personalities, and vehicle retailers.

Five decades of success
The award recognises five decades of success for the Volkswagen Polo, and judge, automotive journalist Mike Rutherford, who founded the awards, said, ‘The 20 million motorists who’ve been buying Volkswagen Polos since 1975 can’t be wrong. It’s been the most consistently credible supermini of the past 50 years and has repeatedly hit the sweet spot in terms of design, overall dimensions, build quality, competitive retail pricing, efficiency and low standing and running costs.

‘It’s a real-world car for budget-conscious, real-world motorists who appreciate the affordability and durability of their long-lasting Polos. And it’s fair to say that since the birth of the Mk 1 version in 1975, it has grown in size, stature and market relevance. No longer is a Polo a basic supermini to be driven on tight, slow streets, in busy towns and cities across the world. At more than four metres long in its current Mk 6 guise, it’s more of a small, credible, and borderline premium-quality family hatchback.’

(Well-said Mike.)

Rod McLeod, director of Volkswagen UK, said, ‘We are all delighted to see the Polo claim this award; it’s a great way to kick off its 50th anniversary celebrations. The Polo is not just a pioneer in terms of technical innovations, but also represents affordable mobility for all. These attributes and values are as relevant and as important to customers today as they were half a century ago, and we believe that’s why our evergreen supermini has stood the test of time.’

Most successful model
More than 20 million Polos have been sold worldwide since its debut, and it has established itself as one of the most successful models in its class. Now exclusively built in South Africa for the local market, and for export to Europe, the Polo is also built in Anchieta and Taubaté in Brazil, and in China by SAIC Volkswagen. The supermini was also produced for a decade in India, in Volkswagen’s Pune plant.

As well as being popular with everyday motorists in its road car guise, the Polo has also been a phenomenally successful motorsport star. The almost unstoppable four-wheel-drive, 300bhp Polo R WRC secured four World Rally Championship titles in a row from 2013 to 2016.

During 2024, 166,304 new Volkswagen passenger vehicles were registered in the UK, making the marque the country’s most popular new car brand for the fourth year running. Almost 29,000 of those were Polos, second only to the Golf (32,370) among Volkswagen sales in the UK last year. The Polo was also the 20th most popular car in Europe last year, with 135,303 examples finding new homes.

Volkswagen UK is looking to banish the winter blues and get the Polo’s 50th anniversary year off to a sweet start by offering Polo-shaped cookies on social media ‘Blue Monday’, which in 2025, falls on 20 January.

To be in with a chance of receiving one, all you have to do is to leave a comment on any of Volkswagen UK’s social media platform accounts – Facebook, Instagram and TikTok – on 20 January stating which Volkswagens make you smile (no guessing which one it would be for us…). A limited number of free cookies are on offer, with winners being selected at random.

All of the iced Polo cookies are designed, made and supplied by online baker Luluz Treats, and the giveaway is open to entrants aged 18 or over and who live in the UK; full terms and conditions are on the relevant Volkswagen UK social media platform accounts.

Volkswagen states, ‘Blue Monday is said to be one of the most depressing days of the year, because it coincides with dark winter days, post-Christmas money worries and the failure of many people’s new year resolutions. It usually falls on the third Monday of the year, which this year is Monday 20 January.’

‘It’s only three weeks since most of us were enjoying the warm post-Christmas glow and also celebrating the start of 2025, but the winter blues are making all that feel like a distant memory for some people,’ said Fiona Jones, social media manager at Volkswagen UK. ‘We hope our cookie giveaway helps to alleviate that and spreads a little Polo 50th birthday joy this January.’

If you want a Polo cookie – and come on, who doesn’t! – look out for the giveaway posts on Volkswagen UK’s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok social media accounts.

This year was always going to be a notable one for the Volkswagen Polo. First launched in March 1975, VW’s evergreen supermini celebrates its 50th birthday in 2025. And pleasingly, for Polo enthusiasts the world over, Volkswagen is officially celebrating this achievement with appearances of special and significant vehicles from its Classic heritage department throughout this anniversary year. (The Polo even gets its own celebratory logo!)

Throughout those five decades, the Polo has often upheld the quality benchmark honour in the small car class, and has democratised many innovations usually seen on larger vehicles. It has also outlived almost all of its market rivals – most notably the Ford Fiesta launched in 1976 – as it has transitioned through six generations and a 20 million-example production run.

Polo I: 1975-1981
Following the introduction of the technologically advanced water-cooled family of vehicles in the early 1970s, designed to replace the aging air-cooled Beetle, the first-generation Polo was the final piece of the new model jigsaw. Based on the Audi 50 that arrived in 1974, its pretty shape, high quality levels, refined engines, and more affordable price helped guarantee its success. By the time production ended in 1981, more than 1.1 million had been produced at Volkswagen’s parent Wolfsburg factory.

Polo II: 1981-1994
As is typical at Volkswagen, evolution rather than revolutions has been the name of the game, over those intervening five decades. More modern engines, increased space and a three-car family – the ‘estate’ car-looking hatchback, the sporty coupé with its more sloping tail, and the traditionally styled three-box saloon – arrived with the introduction of the second-generation Polo in September 1981. A high level of power came in 1985 with the launch of the limited-run Polo Coupé GT G40 with its ‘G-Lader’ scroll-type supercharger, and in 1990, Volkswagen’s small car was the first in its class to be available with catalytic converter technology and fuel injection.

Polo III: 1994-2002 and Polo IV: 2002-2009
The third-generation Polo of 1994 brought a five-door bodystyle for the first time, and was one of the first small cars to be fitted with airbags, increasing the Polo’s reputation for safety. Building on the success of its Golf bigger brother, a full-blooded Polo GTI appeared in 1998. In 2002, the fourth-generation Polo innovated further with front and side airbags, ABS and power steering as standard, and was the first Volkswagen model to feature FSI (Fuel Stratified Injection) engine technology.

Polo V: 2009-2017
In terms of popularity, the fifth-generation Polo of 2009 shines brightly, with 6.1 million examples built. This model heralded the arrival of infotainment systems, and driver assistance technology, as well as TSI (Turbocharged Stratified Injection) engines. Active Cylinder Management (ACT) engine technology also made its debut on the Polo V, with the four-cylinder engines able to shut down two cylinders under light loads to improve economy and lessen tailpipe emissions without the need for hybrid assistance. The car was also a hugely successful motorsport star – the Polo R WRC won the World Rally Championship title an amazing four times in a row from 2013 – and was embraced by more global markets, such as India, in 2010.

Polo VI: 2017-current
The current and sixth-generation Polo arrived in 2017, and is based on the modular transverse matrix (MQB), ushering in higher levels of connectivity, safety and driving dynamics. Updated in 2021 with more digital technology, the current model has assistance and comfort systems that are usually reserved for cars from higher vehicle classes.

Updated 2025 Polo
Along with the parade of classic Polos to be showcased at events during 2025, speaking to UK publication Autocar in late 2024, Kai Grünitz, Brand Board Member for Technical Development at Volkswagen Passenger Cars, confirmed the Polo will get an ‘extensive update’ this year, happily coinciding with the anniversary celebrations. This follows the welcome – and perhaps surprising – confirmation that the Polo will live on until at least 2030 due to the softening of Euro 7 exhaust emission regulations.

Alongside these developments, there is the imminent – late 2025 – arrival of the smallest electric Volkswagen yet, currently christened ID 2, and said to look very close to the ID 2all concept car of 2023. With some rumours suggesting Volkswagen’s electric car ‘ID’ sub-brand nomenclature may be dropped altogether, or that future zero-emission versions of current nameplates may adopt an ‘ID’ prefix to aid the transition to an all-electric VW model family – ‘ID Golf’ for example – recent media reports hint the ID 2 may well be called ID Polo, but we’ll await confirmation until official details are released.

Half-century milestone
Volkswagen celebrated 50 years of the Passat in 2023, five decades of the Golf in 2024, and now it’s the Polo’s turn to bask in the commemorative spotlight as it marks its half-century milestone. It’s exciting to learn Volkswagen Classic will present historic Polo models from its collection during the car’s anniversary year. The first opportunity for Polo fans to celebrate will be at the Bremen Classic Motorshow from 31 January to 2 February, where a 1975 Polo L in the rare Oceanic Blue paint colour will be displayed, along with what Volkswagen Classic states is a ‘unique hillclimb Polo’ from 1977.

We cannot wait, and are planning to run a series of special anniversary themed features here on PoloDriver.com. Join us in a year of celebration!