PoloDriver

The latest batch of sales figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), and it’s good news once again for the Volkswagen Polo. Climbing one place up the top 10 best-sellers chart, in November it was in sixth place, with a tally of 3306 units. It’s standing firm in the 2011 sales-to-date chart, in seventh place. While the supermini sector saw a modest fall in registrations recorded, the Ford Fiesta remains the UK’s best-selling car, with 6195 units finding homes last month. That’s a fair chunk of the supermini’s 34.6% of the new car market, up from 33.9% a year ago. The small Ford is also the best-selling car of the year so far (a title it has held for some time), shifting 90,701 units.

The latest set of figures released by the SMMT state that new car registrations are down just 0.9% in the last three months than at the same period last year, and that the closing figure for 2011 is expected to be 1.94 million units, exceeding expectations. Registrations in November at 134,027 units were down 4.2%. ‘While the November new car market saw a 4.2% dip, the fuel efficiency of new models broke all records with the average new car achieving 52.5mpg,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive.

‘Despite the Chancellor delaying the 3p rise in fuel duty, our cost of fuel is still among the highest in Europe, so customers will welcome the 29.3% improvement in new car fuel efficiency over the last 10 years, a demonstration of industry’s commitment to delivering good value to motorists.’ The top 10 best-selling cars in the UK for November 2011 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 6195 (90,701, 1st)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 5324 (72,493, 3rd)
3 Volkswagen Golf: 4924 (59,337, 4th)
4 Ford Focus: 4910 (77,785, 2nd)
5 Vauxhall Astra: 4518 (57,719, 5th)
6 Volkswagen Polo: 3305 (43,250, 7th)
7 Nissan Qashqai: 3724 (36,826, 9th)
8 BMW 3 Series: 2898 (40,212, 8th)
9 Mini: 2834 (33,139, 10th)
10 Mercedes C-Class: 2540

(The 2011 year-to-date top 10 best-seller absent from November’s sales figures, is the Vauxhall Insignia selling 43,250 units in sixth place.)

Performance braking systems manufacturer Tarox has released details of its ‘Motorsport’ kit for the 6R Polo GTI, which will also fit SEAT Ibiza Cupra and Skoda Fabia vRS models from 2010 onwards. The company states that each kit is manufactured in the company’s Italian factory, and is based around race-proven B30 six-piston billet calipers, and uses two 323mm heat-drilled discs which come in either ‘F2000’ (grooved) or ‘Sport Japan’ (drilled and grooved) options. The rotors are made from European high carbon casts, meaning the disc will withstand much greater heat without distortion.

All the Tarox kit’s components bolt onto Volkswagen’s OEM mounting points, and also integrate with the car’s original ABS system. The Tarox conversion also has a weight saving of over 1kg per corner, and ‘Strada’ street, or ‘Corsa’ circuit pads can be specified. Everything is included in the B30 6 550×366 kit, which comprises of all fittings, all-braided stainless steel race-quality lines and fluids. All are covered under a lifetime guarantee. For more information on the Tarox range, visit http://en.tarox.com/.

We featured the new Polo and Vento Breeze special editions for the Indian market a few weeks ago, and now, the advertising campaign for the extra-value models has been launched. DDB India has created the all-encompassing campaign, with print, radio, TV, outdoor, and digital media all featuring. One of the highlights is this 30-second TV commercial. A bemused customer walks into the VW retailer badly dressed as a woman. He accuses the salesman of ‘pulling his leg’ (relating to the amount of extra kit on the special models), while the salesman reminds him about how he has confirmed it to him, and how the customer does not believe him. The voiceover states that the offer is ‘Unbelievable But True’, also the message of the campaign. Does it work? See for yourself.

Volkswagen Polo ‘Unbelievable But True’ TV campaign credits
Creative agency: DDB India
Client: Volkswagen
Office Head: Rajiv Sabnis
Chief creative officer: Bobby Pawar
Business head: Anurag Tandon
Creative head: Rajeev Raja
Art: Sreejith Kadoth
Copy: Ranjit Sasidharan
Account management: Avik Choudhury, Monish Debnath, Aaron Dsouza
Films department: Michael Remedios
Director: David Popescu
Production house: Fleet

[Source: Campaign India]

Motoring website www.honestjohn.co.uk has revealed the top 10 cheapest and most fuel-efficient new cars currently on sale in the UK. The latest of its Data Bank features, the economy-minded list includes the 80.7mpg Polo BlueMotion 1.2 TDI makes the chart at number seven, with its in-house cousins the 83.3mpg Skoda Fabia Greenline II and 80.7mpg SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive at numbers four and five respectively. The first-placed car is the Kia Rio Ecodynamics, which manages a quoted official fuel consumption figure of 88.3mpg.

All of the cars in the www.honestjohn.co.uk list are fitted with diesel engines and offer free VED and congestion charge exemption. All fuel economy figures quoted are the official manufacturers’ tallies, and the website states that drivers are reporting different economy figures in the Honest John Real Life Fuel Economy Register, which averages reader fuel economy submissions. The latest £14,860 Polo BlueMotion was launched in October 2009 and is powered by a 1.2-litre TDI engine developing 74bhp, and 91g/km of CO2. It also features Start/Stop and battery regeneration and various aerodynamic aids and low rolling resistance tyres.

The Honest John top 10 cheapest and most fuel-efficient new cars
1 Kia Rio Ecodynamics: 88.3mpg
2 Smart ForTwo CDI: 85.6mpg
3 Citroen C3 e-HDI Airdream: 83.1mpg
4 Skoda Fabia Greenline II: 83.1mpg
5 SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive: 80.7mpg
6 Vauxhall Corsa Ecoflex: 80.7mpg
7 Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion: 80.7mpg
8 Alfa Romeo MiTo JTDm-2: 78.5mpg
9 Citroen DS3 e-HDI Airdream: 78.5mpg
10 Ford Fiesta Econetic: 78.5mpg

[Source: www.honestjohn.co.uk]

Volkswagen Group Japan released a statement on 16 November, stating that 50,736 Polos were to be recalled to have a side airbag wiring system defect fixed at no cost to the owners. The report revealed that cars built between August 2004 and August 2009 (so we assume 9N and 9N3 models) will have the problem, which causes the a 0.015 second delay in the airbag sensor’s deployment. Volkswagen Group Japan were keen to stress that no accident has been induced by the problem, and that it found the defect through in-house investigations. Only right-hand drive models are affected, and cars in the UK and Australia are likely to be recalled in accordance with regulations in each individual country.

[Source: www.pddnet.com]