PoloDriver

Volkswagen has announced today that the new fifth-generation Polo is now included in the Motability scheme, with attractive rates and offers to customers. S, Moda A/C and SE models are available to order to Motability customers with zero advance payment on selected engines.

Standard equipment on all new Polos includes ABS, four airbags and ESP. Moda and SE models gain alloy wheels and other enhancements, while A/C versions include semi-automatic climate control as standard. For more information on Motability and your nearest Volkswagen Retailer, call 0800 333 666 or to download the new brochure, click here.

Volkswagen is a long-term supporter of the National Motability Charity which was designed to allow people of all ages to use some or all of their allowance to buy or lease a car, including disabled people and their families. Since its inception in 1977, Motability has acquired almost 400,000 customers and is the leading car scheme for disabled people.

In another new Polo advertising spin-off, Volkswagen have got together with five partners to find the ‘Timeless 50‘, in the fields of design, fashion, food, music and TV. The German giant has selected Livingetc, Marie Claire, BBC Good Food, Heart FM and LOVEFILM to help the great British public choose items which have ‘timeless potential’.

Ten items from each field will make up the ‘Timeless 50’, voted for out of a list of between 20 and 50 items in each category. Once the definitive list is complete, voters will be in with a chance to win the items on it, or even a new Polo of their very own, the inspiration for the whole competition and poll.

You have to sign up to vote and not only will you obviously get more information on the car itself, but also be in with a chance of winning dinner at Le Manoir in Oxfordshire and £500 of Selfridges vouchers, through entry into a prize draw. There’s also 5 x £100 Selfridges vouchers for the runners up.

Voting and prize draw entry closes on 15 November. Choose your ‘Timeless 50’ by clicking the banner below.

The new Polo is one of the seven finalists in the running for the title of European Car of the Year 2010. Up against the Citroën C3 Picasso, Mercedes-Benz E-class, Vauxhall Astra, Peugeot 3008, Škoda Yeti and Toyota iQ, the new small Volkswagen made it through from the initial list of 29 runners.

Twenty-three countries from Europe will field 59 well-respected jurors from the motoring press, and it will be these established figures who will choose the winner on Friday 27 November. Volkswagen’s last entry, the recently rejuvenated Golf, came third in 2009’s contest, behind the second-placed Ford Fiesta and overall winner, the Vauxhall Insignia.

So, what the Polo’s chances? We obviously want it to win, but up against ground-breakers such as the Toyota IQ, we wouldn’t like to say what the outcome will be. The Toyota offers something genuinely different (but not necessarily better) in the city car class, and while the Polo has 34 years of heritage and a premium feel on its side, in this contest, those attributes just might not be enough.

The chaps at autoevolution subjected the 1.6 TDI version of the new Polo to a truly thorough road test back in August, but we only stumbled across it this week. It’s one of the most thorough we think we’ve seen, with exterior, interior, drive (in and out of the city), comfort, technical aspects and gadgets all appraised on a stylish and clean website, magazine-like in its looks.

As if those weren’t reasons enough to pop over and have a look, the photos of the new car turn the website’s test from a might-do into a definite must-see. Beautifully shot, there are 43 shots of the new Polo’s exterior alone, both static and dynamic, driving around the sort of urban and countryside landscapes it should now be inhabiting.

They appear to be thoroughly good guys, too. Stop off here to read the Polo 1.6 TDI 75 test and say hello.

[Image: autoevolution]

The production version of the new Polo BlueMotion has officially been launched at an International Driving Presentation in Hanover, Germany. Starring alongside new versions of the Golf and Passat BlueMotions, production of the eco-Polo starts early next year. Advance orders will be taken at the end of 2009.

The technical details and headline stats are nothing we didn’t know already. The high-tech BlueMotion Technologies (now a sub-brand in itself) package brings new a new 1.2-litre, 74bhp, three-cylinder common-rail TDI engine, regenerative braking, a Stop-Start system and aerodynamic body changes.

Volkswagen quote metric figures for the new car, meaning that the second-generation Polo BlueMotion will do 3.3 litres per 1000 kilometres. The company claim that this miserly consumption will make the new sip-sip Polo the most economical five-seater in the world. High hopes are also pinned on it being the most economical car in its market.

How achievable that ground-breaking fuel consumption is remains to be seen, but if the figures are possible, then brimming the 45-litre tank should only be needed eight times per year, based on a 11,000 kilometre annual mileage. One tankful should be enough, Volkswagen say, to cover over 1363 kilometres (or 851 miles if you get your calculator out).

The German carmaker quotes that a driver can do the 1148-kilometre journey from Hanover to Venice on a single tankful of fuel, costing only 40 euros (3.5 euros per 100 kilometres). In UK terms, that means approximately 85mpg on the combined cycle, beating its predecessor’s quoted figure of 74mpg by quite some margin.

With 87g/km of CO2, the new Polo BlueMotion should also be one of the least-polluting cars in the world, too – the old model beat even the hybrid Toyota Prius. The technological changes help here, too. Modified engine management software gives a lower idling speed; a gearshift indicator lets you know when to stir the gearbox for maximum efficiency; and low rolling-resistance tyres and aerodynamically-designed wheels help make a smoother passage through the air.

Keep checking back for UK market details – we’ll bring them to you as soon as we have them. But, in the meantime, this story gives us an excuse to post a pair of Volkswagen’s striking press photos. Download one of them as a wallpaper here: 1024px x 768px / 1920px x 1200px.