PoloDriver

In a very welcome, exciting, and surprising, but perhaps not totally unexpected, announcement, Volkswagen has confirmed that the Polo name will carry on into the electric age. The arrival of the ID Polo, a fully electric version of the supermini, spearheads the transfer of established Volkswagen nameplates to its ID family.

In equally exciting news, the ID Polo is the series production version of the ID 2all concept car from 2023. At the time of the concept’s reveal, we asked if it was an electric Polo – even drawing comparisons to the Mk IV Polo – and are delighted that our initial thoughts have been confirmed. The icing on this very important cake is that underneath its heavy camouflage, the ID2 all looks to have been turned into the ID Polo virtually unchanged. Even the wheels are the same as the concept. It’s quite a lot to take in.

ID Polo GTI
However, not content with all that, Volkswagen has also revealed the ID GTI Concept – itself based on the ID 2all – will become the ID Polo GTI in production. And as with the ID Polo, the looks of the concept appear to have been carried onto the car we’ll see on the roads next year. Showing Volkswagen’s new ‘Pure Positive’ design language, no interior images or complete technical specifications have been released, but the ID Polo GTI is said to have 264bhp, while the ID Polo will have a starting price under €25,000.

Volkswagen says that the new naming concept will, ‘provide better orientation for customers,’ and that, ‘ID family and models with conventional drives will be offered in parallel.’ We’re taking that to mean that the combustion-engined Polo will continue until 2030 at least, its scheduled production end date.

Life-extending reprieve
Given a life-extending reprieve in 2024 as Euro 7 vehicle emission regulations were relaxed, the Polo exported to left and right-hand drive European and Asia-Pacific markets is now produced solely in South Africa at Volkswagen’s Kariega factory, the plant being the sole exporter for these models in the Volkswagen Group. Newly built Polos leave Kariega for 38 markets around the world.

Between July 2024 and June 2025, 119,336 Polos have been exported from Kariega, the car’s biggest markets being Germany, France and the United Kingdom. On top of this, the Polo was South Africa’s most exported vehicle during 2024. Production of the car in Europe stopped in 2024 after the first model built at the Volkswagen Navarra factory in Pamplona, Spain, rolled off the lines on 20 March 1984.

A total of 8,422,161 Polos have been manufactured at the Landaben plant, and the facilities are now being readied for the start of production of two electric models in 2026, one Škoda and one Volkswagen, one of which may even be the ID Polo…

‘Just the beginning’
Commenting on the new naming strategy – more familiar-named and heritage-steeped models will follow the ID Polo – Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, Head of the Brand Group Core and member of the Group Board of Management said, ‘Our model names are firmly anchored in people’s minds. They stand for a strong brand and embody characteristics such as quality, timeless design and technologies for all. That’s why we’re moving our well-known names into the future. The ID Polo is just the beginning.’

The Volkswagen brand’s more established names will move to the electric portfolio with each new model generation. Alongside, all vehicles with ‘conventional’ (internal combustion) drivetrains will continue to run under their previous and long-standing names. The aim, Volkswagen says, is to help customers navigate the brand’s product range more easily in the future.

Polo’s 50th anniversary year
The ID Polo reveal comes during the Polo’s 50th anniversary year. Martin Sander, Member of the Volkswagen Brand Board of Management for Sales, Marketing and Aftersales, said, ‘Our cars often accompany people for many years – they shape memories and stages of life. A model like the Polo shows just how powerful a name can be: it stands for reliability, personality and history. That’s precisely why we are again giving our ID models names that arouse emotions and are anchored in people’s everyday lives. Electric mobility should not only be progressive but also accessible and personal.

‘We are bringing one of our strongest brands, the GTI, into the electric world, too,’ added Sander. ‘Launching in 2026, the ID GTI Concept will go into production as the ID Polo GTI. It will offer outstanding dynamics and plenty of driving pleasure.’ This is significant, as the first electric GTI will not be a Golf, but a Polo, presumably as it’s a slightly less hallowed model with less risk attached. Whatever the reason, it’s a huge landmark in the Polo story.

Camouflaged public debut
The ID Polo and ID Polo GTI will make their first global public appearance at the IAA Mobilty motor show in Munich, from 8-14 September. They will still be wearing their striking camouflage – the ID Polo’s pop art-inspired wrap draws on elements from the special anniversary livery unveiled on a Polo rally car in April – with presumably an unwrapped debut coming later in the year, but you can strip the camouflage away…

Speaking of the anniversary-liveried rally Polo, computer-generated teaser videos have trailled a special ‘Polo Project Drift’ event taking place on 5 September at 16:00 CEST (15:00 UK BST), which we take to be around, and part of, all the various Volkswagen IAA Mobility activities.

On 7 September, Volkswagen will unveil the concept car for an electric compact SUV, the new ID Cross Concept. The production version of this – the ID Cross – will be launched at the end of 2026 as the electric counterpart to the current Polo-based T-Cross. Exciting times.