PoloDriver

Despite a revamped model on the horizon, the Volkswagen Polo is still performing well in the UK sales chart. The latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) state that last month, the evergreen German supermini was the sixth best-selling car in the UK with 1450 examples sold.

In a repeat of January, sitting one place higher is the Polo’s larger sibling, the Golf, with 1628 new registrations. Once again, the Ford Fiesta sits atop the sales chart tree with 4415 units finding homes. The Vauxhall Corsa is the runner-up, with 3138 cars registered.

The SMMT reports that the new car market has seen a rise of 3.0 per cent with 68,735 new cars registered in February. Next month’s figures (March) are expected to show another increase, as buyers register new cars for the new ‘14’ registration plate.

The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during February 2014 and the year so far (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 4415 (13,487, 1st)

2 Vauxhall Corsa: 3138 (7608, 3rd)

3 Vauxhall Astra: 2707 (6106, 4th)

4 Ford Focus: 2566 (7899, 2nd)

5 Volkswagen Golf: 1628 (6018, 5th)

6 Volkswagen Polo: 1450 (5325, 6th)

7 Mercedes-Benz C-Class: 1231

8 Vauxhall Insignia: 1164

9 Audi A3: 1148 (4278, 7th)

10 BMW 3 Series: 1085


(The 2014 top 10 best-selling cars absent from last month’s sales figures are the Nissan Qashqai, Nissan Juke and Fiat 500 with 4079, 3733 and 3549 units sold respectively.)

A new year, a new sales chart. Latest sales figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) state that despite a new model on the way, the current Polo is still selling well.

The small Volkswagen was a prominent presence in the UK sales charts for 2013, and sits in fifth place when volumes for January 2014 are added up. Volkswagen UK sold 3875 Polos last month.

Sitting one place higher is the Polo’s larger sibling, the Golf, with 4390 new registrations. Once again, the Ford Fiesta sits atop the sales chart tree with the ever-popular Focus behind it.

The SMMT reports that the new car market is up 7.6 percent with 154,562 new cars registered in January, with a typical new vehicle 27 per cent more fuel-efficient than one seven years ago.

The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during January 2014 and the year so far (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 9072 (9072, 1st)
2 Ford Focus: 5333 (5333, 2nd)

3 Vauxhall Corsa: 4470 (4470, 3rd)

4 Volkswagen Golf: 4390 (4390, 4th)

5 Volkswagen Polo: 3875 (3875, 5th)

6 Vauxhall Astra: 3399 (3399, 6th)

7 Audi A3: 3130 (3130, 7th)

8 Nissan Qashqai: 3028 (3028, 8th)

9 Nissan Juke: 2704 (2704, 9th)

10 Fiat 500: 2595 (2595, 10th)

A popular, perfect pairing. That’s how the Volkswagen Polo Vivo and Polo 6R can be seen during 2013. Named South Africa’s top-selling cars last year, the duo sold almost 64,000 units between them, helping Volkswagen Group South Africa deliver over 9.7 million vehicles.

The Volkswagen brand sold 83,627 units in the country alone, with 35,041 Polo Vivos finding new homes, while 27,953 fifth-generation Polo 6Rs left dealer showrooms. Both cars are produced locally at Volkswagen’s Uitenhage factory, consistently top the sales charts, and account for nearly 14 per cent of the local market.

Volkswagen Group South Africa ended 2013 as the market leader of the passenger car segment for the fifth consecutive year with the total sales of 102,962 units, up 3.9 per cent. This gave Volkswagen Group South Africa an impressive overall market share of 22.9 per cent.

Volkswagen’s passenger car sales growth of 3.9 per cent was more than double the total passenger car market growth of 1.8 per cent in 2013.

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 R132,200 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R171,000 for the top 1.6 Polo Maxx, the 2013 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 hatch, in addition to the four-door Polo Sedan.

Though it didn’t make the chart every month, the Volkswagen Polo ended 2013 as one of the UK’s best-selling cars, according to figures releases by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Volkswagen sold 42,609 new Polos during last year, resulting in an eighth place standing.

It’s consistent if nothing else, the Polo selling around the 40,000 figure during the 1980s. By contrast, the similarly-aged Ford Fiesta sold 121,929 units, and finished as the best-selling car in the UK, after a string of number one places during the year.

The Polo was also the eighth most popular car in the UK last month, while the Fiesta again sat at the top of the tree. Another popular Volkswagen was the Golf in fifth place.

The 2013 UK new car market recorded its best performance in five years. 2013 saw 2,264,737 cars registered, up 10.8 per cent on 2012 and exceeding SMMT’s 2.25 million forecast for the year.

Other SMMT stats include the facts that 2013 boasted the highest annual registration total since 2007 as December achieves the 22nd consecutive monthly rise, and on average, an additional 600 extra cars registered per day in 2013 than in the previous year.

The UK is now firmly secured as Europe’s second largest car market and the only one to grow consistently throughout the year. The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during December 2013 and the year (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 8512 (121,929, 1st)

2 Vauxhall Corsa: 6414 (84,275, 3rd)

3 Ford Focus: 5559 (87,350, 2nd)

4 Vauxhall Astra: 5235 (68,070, 4th)

5 Volkswagen Golf: 4520 (64,951, 5th)

6 Vauxhall Insignia: 3956

7 BMW 3 Series: 3429 (43,494, 7th)

8 Volkswagen Polo: 3407 (42,609, 8th)

9 BMW 1 Series: 2679 (41,883, 9th)

10 Nissan Qashqai: 2516 (50,211, 6th)


(The 2013 top 10 best-selling car absent from last month’s sales figures is the Peugeot 208 in 10th place with 38,616 units sold.)

The Polo remains in the top 10 best-selling cars in the UK sales chart, according to the latest sales figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Slipping down one place from July’s chart, the Volkswagen supermini was the UK ninth best-selling car in August 2013, selling 1442 units. It performs higher in the year-to-date placings, staunchly holding on to seventh place. It still can’t touch the Ford Fiesta, though, with 75,148 registrations this year so far, 3289 of those in August. The seventh-generation Golf has bolstered Volkswagen UK’s sales sheet; it rises to third place in the new SMMT tallies.

Only around 3 per cent of annual registrations occur in August ahead of September’s plate change, says the SMMT, which typically accounts for around 17 per cent of full-year registrations. The fifth successive month of double-digit growth pushes year-to-date sales figures up 10.4 per cent to 1,391,788 units. ‘UK new car registrations have now risen consecutively for a year and a half. Ahead of the September plate-change, August always has far fewer registrations, but the rise this month bodes well for the new 63-plate,’ said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive. The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during August 2013 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 3289 (75,148, 1st)

2 Vauxhall Astra: 2428 (43,324, 4th)

3 Volkswagen Golf: 2233 (39,530, 5th)

4 Ford Focus: 2225 (57,129, 2nd)

5 Vauxhall Corsa: 2151 (53,284, 3rd)

6 BMW 1 Series: 1927 (24,364, 9th)

7 Nissan Qashqai: 1875 (33,299, 6th)

8 BMW 3 Series: 1517 (26,175, 8th)

9 Volkswagen Polo: 1442 (27,730, 7th)

10 Vauxhall Insignia: 1147


(The 2013 top 10 best-selling car absent from last month’s sales figures is the Peugeot 208 in 10th place with 24,269 units sold.)