PoloDriver

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) best-selling cars for July 2012 figures have been released, and the Polo holds on to its top 10 UK placing. Selling 2863 units last month, it rises one place from June 2012, now charting at number eight. The Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa still lead the supermini field, though, with Uncle Henry’s small car also taking the number one spot. Volkswagen’s larger and evergreen hatchback the Golf is in fourth place, with 4367 units sold during the seventh month of this year. The SMMT states that registrations in July, at 143,884 units, were up 9.3% on a year ago.

New car registrations rose 9.3 per cent in July, continuing the upward trend seen during recent months. SMMT’s full year forecast is for 1.97 million cars to be registered during 2012 suggesting a slight slowing of demand in the second half of the year,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. ‘International economic stability remains a concern for vehicle manufacturers and the UK market, but intense competition and new fuel efficient products are creating great opportunities for motorists.’ The top 10 UK best-selling passenger cars in July 2012 and for the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 7533 (67,103, 1st)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 8800 (52,956, 2nd)
3 Vauxhall Astra: 5211 (35,694, 5th)
4 Ford Focus: 4742 (48,595, 3rd)
5 Volkswagen Golf: 4367 (38,939, 4th)
6 Nissan Qashqai: 3721 (27,156, 6th)
7 Mercedes-Benz C-Class: 3163 (20,780, 9th)
8 Volkswagen Polo: 2863 (25,212, 8th)
9 Audi A3: 2711
10 Vauxhall Insignia: 2591 (20,481, 10th)

(The 2012 year-to-date top 10 best-selling car absent from July’s sales figures is the BMW 3 Series selling 25,515 units in seventh place.)

The Polo has earned another accolade, being named as the best small hatchback in the the Parkers Cost of Motoring New Car Awards 2012. In Match 1.2-litre TDI form, the Polo was judged the best small hatchback to make motorists’ cash go the furthest. The Parkers New Car Awards are in their second year and were designed by the experts at the car-buying website, with the winners determined through the data produced by Parkers’ ‘cost of motoring’ tool. This uses objective data to identify all the different elements involved in keeping a car on the road for three years and covering 30,000 miles, including depreciation, taxes, service, maintenance and repair, fuel consumption and breakdown cover.

The Volkswagen Touran S 1.6-litre TDI BlueMotion Technology also claimed an award, winning the fiercely fought people carrier category. Kieren Puffett, editor of Parkers says: ‘With the cost of motoring continuing to rise, customers are keener than ever to secure the best deal when buying a new car; yet motorists are often unaware of the unseen and long-term costs involved. To win one Parkers Cost of Motoring New Car Award is a real achievement, but to win two is outstanding. These awards are a clear demonstration that both the Volkswagen Polo and Touran provide new car buyers with exceptionally competitive running costs, strong residual values and the latest fuel efficient engines.’

Until September 30, 2012, Volkswagen Finance is presenting enticing finance offers, which include a £1000 deposit contribution on specific models. All UK buyers over the age of 18 who buy a new Polo with Volkswagen’s Solutions finance package can benefit from this offer, and an additional discount of £500 is available on all base S models. This is a fantastic opportunity for buyers seeking a 500 pounds loan with bad credit, as they can benefit from the deposit contribution and discount while purchasing a brand new car.

Match, SEL, R Line, BlueMotion and GTI variants are all eligible for the £1000 deposit contribution, while there is also free insurance for over 21s on S, Match and SEL cars (visit www.insurewithvolkswagen.co.uk/polo for full terms and conditions). This offer is subject to vehicle availability and may be removed at any time.

All new Polo models are also eligible for fixed price servicing for a one-off payment of £329. The fixed price servicing plan is based on three years or 30,000 miles (whichever comes soonest) and is designed to help reduce the cost of ownership for the first three services, generating significant customer savings. The Polo range starts at £10,420 for the 59bhp 1.2-litre S three-door, topping out at £19,950 for the 1.4-litre, 178bhp GTI. Please contact your local Volkswagen Retailer for details of all these offers.

Latest industry figures released by Jato Dynamics show that the Polo is still popular in Europe as well as the UK, being the third best-selling car on the continent last month. Although its sales slipped 12.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2011, it was still 10 per cent ahead of its longstanding rival, the Ford Fiesta, giving the German car a healthy lead over its fourth-placed blue oval competitor. The Vauxhall Corsa took second place in the European sales charts, while the Polo’s bigger sibling, the Golf, took the top spot. In a surprise upturn, the Renault Megane rounded out the top five. Outside the top 10, the new Volkswagen Up is performing well, too, according to Jato. The top 10 European best-selling cars in June 2012 and for the year overall (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Volkswagen Golf: 39,811 (240,020, 1st)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 29,490 (149,553, 4th)

3 Volkswagen Polo: 28,407 (163,818, 3rd)

4 Ford Fiesta: 26430, (171,605, 2nd)

5 Renault Megane: 23,692 (111,191, 9th)

6 Vauxhall Astra: 23,569 (129,774, 7th)

7 Renault Clio: 22,946 (130,638, 6th)
8 Ford Focus: 22,068 (139,108, 5th)

9 Nissan Qashqai: 21,682 (114,586, 8th)

10 BMW 3 Series: 20,112 (91,442, 10th)

A Polo BlueMotion has covered 1564km (971 miles) on one tank of fuel, driving from one end of Germany to the other. Last weekend, the diesel-powered hatchback started its journey at Autostadt in Volkswagen’s German home of Wolfsburg, before passing through Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Kassel, and the region of Lower Saxony. Certified and tested by independent vehicle inspection organisation DEKRA, the run was the result of a competition staged by Volkswagen on its www.thinkblue-spiel.de website, where visitors had to guess the distance a Polo BlueMotion can cover on one tank of fuel.

Driven by four expert fuel-saving drivers, the Polo BlueMotion’s tank was sealed by DEKRA, and while one driver was doing his run, the remaining three followed behind in a Passat Variant BlueMotion. The average speed of both vehicles was 84km/h (52mph), while the drivers were rotated in the Polo several times. The Polo BlueMotion beat Volkswagen’s own projected consumption of 3.3 litres per 100km (85.6mpg), posting a figure of 2.9 litres per 1000km (97.4mpg). We ran a Polo BlueMotion for a week earlier this month for an eco-run from Essex to the Highlands in Scotland, covering around 506 miles on one tank of fuel – just more than half what Volkswagen’s monitored car achieved.