PoloDriver

Launched in March 2010, the Polo Vivo continues to dominate the South African passenger car market. Selling over 56,000 units in two years, it is the only locally-produced entry-level model on the market, and has been the top-selling car in South Africa for the past 18 months. Replacing the hugely popular Mk 1 Golf-based Citi Golf, the A0 segment Polo Vivo has both created jobs and a new supplier park near the Uitenhage factory in which it is built. Nearly 70% of Polo Vivo parts are sourced from local suppliers.

Government fleet buyers as well as rental companies list the Polo Vivo as their car of choice, due, in large part, to its ‘South Africaness’. ‘The success of Polo Vivo in the past two years has been overwhelming. Polo Vivo is a unique offering that we introduced two years ago with the aim of providing our customers with an affordable and a reliable product,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director, Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa.

‘The cornerstones of the Polo Vivo Brand are affordability, proven German product quality, safety, space and comfort. It represents excellent value for money without compromising on core product essentials that customers expect from Volkswagen. In short, Polo Vivo customers are getting an A-class car for the price of an A0 car, a difficult proposition to ignore in this heavily contested segment of the market. As if that were not enough, Polo Vivo also has the class-leading residual value in its segment in the used car market. This ensures that the cost of ownership over a three-year cycle makes Polo Vivo one of the cheapest cars on the South African market to currently own,’ added Glendinning.

The Polo Vivo is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R106,100 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R153,200 for the top 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo (9N3), built from 2005 to 2009. In the past year, Volkswagen South Africa has introduced additional exciting derivatives to the Polo Vivo range to broaden its appeal, including the sporty 3-door Polo Vivo GT (above).

Outstripping the grids of other classes, the second race weekend of the 2012 Engen Volkswagen Cup took place at Killarney on 31 March – 1 April. In total, 33 racing Polo Vivos took to the track ensuring lots of race action. In a change to the usual two races, Killarney saw three, with the first pair being sprint races of six laps, while the third 12-lap event was run later in the day. The top six drivers in qualifying drew grid positions for race one, while the second race grid was made up from the top six finishers starting in reverse order. The third race grid was determined by the racers’ second-fastest lap time in qualifying sessions.

In the first race, defending champion Devin Robertson created a gap between him and the rest of the field, all the time keeping Kosie Weyers at bay. Weyers had made his way past fastest qualifier Matthew Hodges, and was lucky to fend off Kelvin van der Linde. Robertson crossed the line first, followed by Weyers and van der Linde, and it was all to drive for, as the second race grid was a reverse of the first. Robertson started sixth, Weyers fifth, and van der Linde fourth.

Trevor Bland was in pole for the start of race two – his first ever – and made a good start, but soon lost it, as van der Linde, Kyle Barnes, Weyers, and then Robertson made their way past. Van der Linde took the flag, with Barnes seconds and Weyers third. Race thee meanwhile saw local racer Weyers take victory, with Robertson taking the R2000 prize for the fastest lap and the second spot on the podium, followed by van der Linde. Bland finished fourth overall after the races had been run, and was named ‘Driver of the Day’.

Guest racer Sudhir Matai of Car magazine had a tough day. A broken gear linkage eliminated him from the second race, while race three saw him shunted off the track, and he hit the wall going backwards. He got his Polo Vivo racer back on the track, but when the front left tyre deflated on the main straight, he parked up and waited for the race to finish. The Engen Volkswagen Cup racers will take to the track for round three of the national championship at Aldo Scribante Raceway in Port Elizabeth on Saturday 28 April.

The 2012 Engen Volkswagen Cup series is similar to the other racing Volkswagen Polo Cup single-series championships run in China, Europe and India. Just as in those officially-sanctioned Volkswagen-moderated series, the South African one-make format highlights new driving talent. In the Engen championship, as many as thirty drivers regularly take to the tracks in technically-identical, 2.0-litre, 234bhp Volkswagen Polo Vivo racers.

RACE RESULTS
Race 1
1 Devin Robertson (1: Sparco/Big Boss Auto)
2 Kosie Weyers (2: Engen Xtreme)
3 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)

Race 2
1 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
2 Kyle Barnes (4: Gold Liberations)
3 Kosie Weyers (2: Engen Xtreme)

Race 3
1 Kosie Weyers (2: Engen Xtreme)
2 Devin Robertson (1: Sparco/Big Boss Auto)
3 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)

Overall standings
1 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
2 Kosie Weyers (2: Engen Xtreme)
3 Devin Robertson (1: Sparco/Big Boss Auto)

Masters Championship overall standings
1 Dean Ball (M5: Champion Motors)
2 Eddie Rodrigues (M7: SEW Eurodrive)
3 Justin Taylor (M3: VW Techniques)

Volkswagen Group South Africa has maintained its top position in the passenger car market with total sales of 8239 units and a market share of 21.1 per cent in March 2012. Once again the Polo Vivo was the country’s top seller, with the fifth-generation Polo 6R claiming the runner-up spot. ‘Volkswagen Group South Africa is delighted to finish the first quarter of 2012 as the leader of the passenger car market. Our consistent performance has been spearheaded by the market dominance of the Polo Vivo (2846 units) and Polo (2355 units) – strong brands that were again the top two sellers in March,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director, Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa.

The Polo Vivo was launched in March 2010 as an entry-level model for the South African market, replacing the Series 1 Golf-based CitiGolf, and is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R106,100 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R153,200 for the top 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the 2012 Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo (9N3), built from 2005 to 2009. The fifth-generation Polo (6R) is available as a three and five-door hatchback, in addition to the four-door Sedan.

Just as spring finally rears its head in the UK, the aptly-named Polo Vivo Zest goes on sale in South Africa. Designed with the young at heart in mind, the latest addition to the Polo Vivo range is distinguished by a tailgate spoiler, 14-inch ‘Portland’ alloy wheels, and unique ‘Zest’ badging. Inside, there’s rainbow-patterned ‘Bunt’ seat fabric, and gunmetal dashboard inserts. The 1.4-litre 74bhp engine comes paired with a five-speed manual gearbox, while standard equipment includes driver and passenger airbags, and a digital clock and mileage trip recorder. The five-door only Polo Vivo Zest costs R122,300 and is available now.

Once again, Volkswagen Group South Africa leads the way in the South African new passenger car sales charts. The Polo Vivo in both hatchback and sedan guises was again the top-seller with 2651 units, but the fifth-generation, locally-made Polo 6R wasn’t far behind, with 2470 examples sold. 6033 Polo 6Rs were also exported from Volkswagen Group South Africa’s Uitenhage factory, which also manufactures the CrossPolo.

The Polo Vivo was launched in March 2010 as an entry-level model for the South African market, replacing the Series 1 Golf-based CitiGolf, and is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R106,100 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R153,200 for the top 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the 2012 Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo (9N3), built from 2005 to 2009. The fifth-generation Polo (6R) is available as both a three and five-door hatchback, in addition to the traditionally-styled four-door Polo Sedan.