PoloDriver

Volkswagen premiered a number of new models at the Moscow International Automobile Salon 2010 when the doors opened yesterday. One of the star exhibits on the German giant’s stand is the latest notchback Polo, the sedan. It’s the first public viewing for the handsome saloon version of the new Polo, which, the company say, was ‘specially-designed for Russia’ (we’ll ignore the fact that it’s also on sale in India as the Vento, then). Tested in extreme weather conditions to cope with the harsh Russian winters, the car has a ‘cold climatic zone package’, and suspension adapted for badly-surfaced roads. The Polo sedan is based on the fifth-generation Polo hatchback launched in 2009, and is powered by a 1.6-litre 104bhp engine. Prices start at 399,000 rubles for the Trendline model. Manufactured locally in Kaluga, the Russian factory also produces the Golf, Jetta, Passat, Passat CC, Tiguan and Touareg.

The full and official Volkswagen Polo sedan press release from June 2010 and a gallery of pictures follows.

> Read More

First it was on, now it’s off. On off, on off, on off. Reports of the Polo heading Stateside in more traditional saloon form have circulated ever since the fifth-generation model’s debut in March 2009, and now that the notchback version is being sold in India (as the Vento) and Russia, it would appear that the three-box car won’t be heading to the US as originally thought. Slightly at odds with the US arm of VW stating it wants a back-to-basics approach to models in its range, Euro Car Blog reports that as Volkswagen has just launched a new interpretation of the ever-popular Jetta across the pond, a smaller Polo notchback won’t be in such high demand after all.

Do you think that by not selling the Polo Sedan in the US, Volkswagen has missed an opportunity? Leave a comment below and tell us what you think.

Following its Moscow debut, the new Polo-based Vento saloon has recently been unveiled in India. With an extended wheelbase and traditional three-box notchback profile, the latest booted Polo takes on a separate identity to the three and five door hatchback models, and is powered by 104bhp 1.6-litre petrol and diesel engines. As with the Derby of 1977, the Vento is one of Volkswagen’s more pretty and gracefully-styled saloon cars, with a tail which reminds us of the original Vento’s successor, the 1998 Series 4 Golf-based Bora. To be sold alongside the locally Pune-built Polo hatchbacks, the Vento completes the Polo line-up in India, fast becoming one of the fifth generation car’s major markets. Volkswagen Germany and Volkswagen India press releases and images follow.

> Read More

No sooner had the Polo Saloon been unveiled in Moscow, news filtered out that it is heading to India in the autumn of 2010, under the ‘Vento’ name. We’d suspected as much when news stories leaked the possible change of moniker a few weeks ago, and a market launch has always been on the cards for what many car manufacturers see as one of the world’s emerging sales markets. To be built in the company’s Chakan, Pune plant (the same factory where the local market Polo hatchback is manufactured), engine choice is to be the same as the Eastern European cars.

Two 1.6-litre engines will provide the motive power (we suspect both the petrol and diesel units to have 104bhp), while manual and automatic transmissions – the latter for petrol models only – will be offered. Positioned as a premium entry level Sedan in the country, and Volkswagen say that the car has been completely designed to the needs and expectations of the Indian consumer. Standard equipment includes air-conditioning, ABS and a raft of airbags, while like the Polo hatchback, the car boasts higher ground clearance for the Indian market over its European relatives.

The Vento (Italian for ‘wind’) will be the seventh model from the Brand Volkswagen for the Indian market and takes a name from Volkswagen’s past. The third-generation Golf saloon was called Vento in when it arrived in 1992, replacing the Jetta. The fifth-generation Polo is rumoured to be heading to the US (where, coincidentally, the Jetta name is still going strong) – is this the car that could take the Polo name Stateside? Indian motoring magazine Quarter Mile has a special preview feature on the Vento in their June 2010 issue. Download the magazine’s special online version here.

After the GTI, the new Polo Saloon (the Sedan nameplate seems to have been dropped) is the one incoming fifth-generation Polo variant that has grabbed the most headlines. Both long-awaited and long-rumoured, Volkswagen has officially unveiled the car today in Moscow. Tailor-made for the Russian market and expected to be priced from €10,000 (a very modest £8300 at current exchange rates), only one 1.6-litre 104bhp engine is available, with either a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic gearbox.

To be built at Volkswagen’s brand new Kaluga factory in the traditional continental trims of Trendline, Comfortline and Highline, a version will also be sold in India later in the year. The biggest question of course, is whether this is the Polo model which will be heading Stateside? The latest in a line of European and global Polo notchbacks starting with the Derby in 1977, initial reports state that the new Saloon won’t be coming to the UK, where (unlike the US) buyers traditionally prefer hatchbacks. The full Volkswagen press release follows.

> Read More