PoloDriver

Car Advice has reported that Volkswagen Australia has recalled almost 100 new Polos due to issues with the front seats. The website reports that some backrest frames may have incorrect welding. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) states that ‘An incorrect weld may cause noises from the front seats’.

The ACCC continues: ‘It cannot be completely ruled out that if this fault remains undetected and the vehicle is involved in an accident, the backrest may fail and lead to injury.’ Volkswagen Australia says that the recall checks will take 30 minutes, with replacement of affected components taking an additional 60 minutes. Head to Car Advice to read the full story.

[Source: Car Advice]

The 500,000th car to be produced at Volkswagen India’s 572-acre Pune factory was celebrated last month. The red seven-speed DSG Polo GT TSI was destined for the local market, which has seen an increasing demand since the plant was opened in 2009. Over 200,000 cars are made at the factory annually.

State-of-the-art production facility
Models built at the state-of-the-art production facility at Chakan include the current Volkswagen Polo and Vento (Polo saloon), as well as the Škoda Fabia and Indian-market Škoda Rapid (a re-badged Volkswagen Vento, not the European SEAT co-operation model).

Cars roll off the Pune production lines for both the domestic and international export markets. Over 32 countries take the vehicles made in India, with continents as far-reaching as Africa, Asia, and North America. The strong engineering and high quality principles of the Volkswagen brand are upheld at the Chakan factory, with 430 cars produced per day over a two-shift system.

Same quality standards
‘A Volkswagen built anywhere in the world is of the same quality standards – be it in Europe, Asia, America or anywhere else. India is no exception to this and all the cars built by our highly skilled workforce at Pune Plant fulfil all the required quality standards of a Volkswagen,’ said Andreas Lauenroth, Executive Director – Technical, Volkswagen India Private Limited.

The Polo commenced production at Pune in December 2009 when the fifth-generation model was introduced to the Indian market. Vento production followed in August 2010, while December of the same year saw South African exports begin. The 100,000th car was made at Pune in July 2011, with left-hand drive markets catered for a year later.

Holding firm in the sales stakes, the Volkswagen Polo was the seventh best-selling car in the UK last month according to the latest sales figures announced by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). A total of 4028 Polos found new homes in the UK during May 2015. The popular first-placed Ford Fiesta continued its market dominance with 9349 cars sold.

The latest SMMT tallies show that May new car registrations were up 2.4 per cent to 198,706 units, recording the 39th consecutive month of growth. 2015 new car registrations are up 5.7 per cent overall, with 1,119,072 units sold. The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during May 2015 and the year so far (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 9349 (59,447, 1st)
2 Ford Focus: 7355 (35,989, 3rd)
3 Vauxhall Corsa: 6513 (40,594, 2nd)

4 Volkswagen Golf: 5897 (30,686, 4th)
5 Vauxhall Astra: 4916 (23,538, 6th)
6 Mini: 4095
7 Volkswagen Polo: 4028 (23,523, 7th)
8 Audi A3: 3999 (22,338, 8th)
9 Nissan Qashqai: 3978 (27,361, 5th)
10 Nissan Juke: 3897


(The 2015 top 10 best-selling cars absent from last month’s sales figures is the Mercedes-Benz C Class with 20,726 units sold and the Fiat 500 in 10th place, selling 18,449 units.)

Tom Goodlad, content editor for Auto Express, has been putting his new Polo SE 1.2 TSI to work, piling on the miles and turning it into full-on flat pack transport. How has the little silver Volkswagen coped with it all?

A lot can happen in a matter of months. Since my last report, in which I was still getting used to my new Polo, I’ve been all over the place and piling on the miles to LP64 HRG.

Trusty and comfortable
In the grand scheme of things, it hasn’t really been a long time, but an awful lot has happened and I’ve spent a lot of time behind the wheel of my Polo and it’s proving to be a trusty and comfortable companion, if a slightly grubby and fly-splattered one.

As mentioned in my previous report, I gave the Polo its first run to my family home in Devon and since then it’s done the journey so many times it could probably do it by itself.

What I’m coming to realise from these journeys is just how adept the Polo is at driving in all kinds of situations. It’s comfortable and refined in the outside lane of the motorway and as easy to use as you’d expect around town, but throw it down a country lane in the West Country and it can put a smile on your face.

Get-up-and-go
Granted, it’s no hot hatch, but it feels light enough on its feet to enjoy the experience (it helps when you’ve got a view of the Atlantic). The 89bhp 1.2 TSI engine is eager and provides more get-up-and-go than you’d expect, especially on the motorway – making easy work of keeping up with traffic.

I do miss the torque of my old Audi A3 2.0 TDI when I just need to put my foot down, but the Polo is hardly a slouch and I’ve got used to the need to plan ahead slightly. I just possibly need to improve my driving in the process to make sure I have the room to make a manoeuvre.

Top-notch quality
So, as I’m writing this actually sitting in the car waiting for an appointment, the Polo is proving a great place to spend time (even as a mobile office). The interior is standing up well to what I throw at it and the quality really is top-notch.

The seats are comfortable and supportive enough that I can do the three-hour haul to Devon and get out feeling refreshed at the other end. It’s even surprising how much more refined it is than my parents’ Mk 5 Golf TDI, plus I’m currently averaging about 49mpg. It’s a little off VW’s claimed 60.1mpg, but considering the types of journey I do, I’m pretty happy with that.

The Polo is proving its worth as a makeshift van, too. A recent trip to IKEA tested the car’s ability to fit a small dining table, two chairs, a storage unit and a few other bits and bobs in, and it passed with flying colours.

The split-folding rear seats are easy to fold and the variable-height boot floor meant there was no lip to contend with. The front passenger had to squeeze in slightly, but an IKEA trip wouldn’t be truly complete without a mildly uncomfortable passenger balancing some flat-pack above their head.

Over the next month or so I’m due to move house, so there will undoubtedly be more van-like duties for the Polo to get stuck into. Full details next time.

At the recent 36th International Vienna Motor Symposium conference in Austria, Volkswagen announced details of a range of new engines including updated versions of the 1.0-litre TSI unit found in the current fifth-generation Polo 6C.

A high-performance 270bhp version of the three-cylinder ‘EA211’ engine with 200lb ft (270Nm) of torque was also unveiled, which Volkswagen says has ‘the genes of the Polo R WRC’s rally engine’. Which would be nice!

Friedrich Eichler, Head of Powertrain Development told delegates that the super-powerful 1.0-litre TSI unit was fitted with a monoscroll turbocharger and an ‘e-booster’ electric compressor to generate the high power output.

Less exotically, Volkswagen also confirmed that the new 1.0-litre TSI will be available in 94bhp (118lb ft/160Nm of torque) as well as 108bhp (148lb ft/200Nm of torque) power outputs – the former powers the current UK-market Polo BlueMotion. A CNG version of the small displacement unit will also be available in due course.