PoloDriver

Volkswagen Motorsport may have closed its doors, but the rally monster that is the Polo GTI R5 can still be seen out on the stages. At least 15 of the 272bhp four-wheel drive rally machines were made before the end of 2018, its debut year, and the rally GTI has tasted victory in the hands of famous names, including Oliver Solberg, son of world champion Petter Solberg.

Another celebrated rallying name is now associated with the GTI R5. Niclas Grönholm, son of two-time WRC title holder and former Volkswagen test driver Marcus Grönholm took the wheel of a MRF-tyred Polo for the 2021 Arctic Lapland Rally. The Finnish event ran from 15-16 January and Grönholm’s ALM Motorsport-prepared car came home in tenth place overall at the end of the seven-stage event. The result puts the young Finnish rallycross driver and his co-pilot Antti Linnaketo sixth in the 2021 Finnish Rally Championship.

‘Very challenging’
‘It was great to have two cars wearing MRF Tyres inside the top 10. The stages were in good condition, but there was a lot of loose snow, and it was very challenging,’ reported Grönholm.

Other Arctic Lapland Rally Polo GTI R5 runners included the pairings of Egon Kaur and Silver Simm for Kaur Motorsport; Georg Linnamäe and Tanel Kasesalu in another ALM Motorsport car; and Jussi Keskiniva and Mikko Kaikkonen in a Printsport-liveried Polo. Keskiniva finished 18th overall, with Linnamäe 21st and Kaur 30th. The 2021 event isn’t the first at which Polo GTI R5s have been seen in action: in 2019, Emil Lindholm and Mikael Korhonen helmed their small VW to victory.

There is more Polo GTI R5 action next weekend, as four cars are scheduled to take part in the 2021 running of the legendary Rallye Monte-Carlo.

[Images: MRF Tyres / Volkswagen Motorsport]

Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH, the Hanover-based outfit behind the four World Rally Championship title-winning Polo R WRC, and the current Polo GTI R5, is being integrated into Volkswagen AG. The 169-strong workforce will be offered employment at Volkswagen AG, as the company ceases all motorsport activities and realigns itself with the age of electromobility.

Successful run
Production of the sixth-generation Polo-based GTI R5 will finish at the end of 2020, though spare parts will be ‘ensured in the long term’ to service teams who run the 270bhp four-wheel drive machines in national and international championships. An end to the Polo’s successful run which began in 2013, it sadly spells the final curtain on the Polo’s officially backed role in motorsport.

In addition to the quartet of World Rally Championship titles Volkswagen Motorsport scored with the Polo R WRC from 2013-2016, the Polo RX won a trio of rallycross world championship titles in 2017, 2018 and 2020, most notably through a pairing with Petter Solberg. Up-and-coming driver Johan Kristoffersson also formed an unbeatable and winning bond with the rallycross Polo.

VW states it is “pooling its strengths for the transformation into the mobile electric age” as part of its wide-ranging refocus. ‘The Volkswagen brand is on the way to becoming the leading provider of sustainable electromobility,’ stated Dr Frank Welsch, Volkswagen brand Board Member for Development.

‘We are pooling our strengths and have decided to discontinue our own motorsport activities for the Volkswagen brand. The workforce will subsequently be integrated into Volkswagen AG.’ Welsch also explained that the ‘in-depth technical expertise’ of the Volkswagen Motorsport employees and the knowledge gained from the ID R electric racing car project will feed into the development of the incoming ID range of cars.

‘Significant sporting successes’
‘The Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH team has had significant sporting successes for the brand over the decades. My sincere thanks go to all employees for the many victories, titles and records around the world and their personal commitment,’ said Wilfried von Rath, Volkswagen brand Member of the Board of Management, adding that the Hanover workforce will be offered employment at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg, and will be integrated into the company over the coming months.

As well as the components for the Polo GTI R5, spares for the Golf GTI TCR will also be safe in the long term. The 335bhp track machine secured a pair of TCR International titles in 2016 and 2017. Both machines are customer sports propositions, Volkswagen Motorsport not running any ‘factory-backed’ teams itself.

Five-decade history
Volkswagen Motorsport’s history goes back five decades, starting with Formula Vee in the 1960s and 1970s. Subsequent participation in Formula 3, national and World Rally Championships (with both second and third-generation Golf GTIs, as well as the Polo R WRC), circuit racing series and three Dakar Rally events show it was a company to be reckoned with in the world of motorsport.

More recently, the electric ID R single-seater successfully showcased Volkswagen Motorsport’s technical skill. The EV racer holds five international records, including the overall fastest hill climb times at Pikes Peak and the Goodwood Festival of Speed, as well as the quickest electric car lap on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.

Riding on a decade of success, a new special edition derivative of the Polo Vivo has been launched in South Africa. The Polo Vivo Mswenko has been named after the isZulu word for ‘swag’, which is an expression of attitude and confidence in the Bantu language of the Zulus. Aimed at ‘dynamic and young at heart’ buyers, the R246,900 Polo Vivo Mswenko has some eye-catching features.

Outside, there are ‘Mswenko’ (pronounced ‘m-swe-nkoh’) diamond door decals, a black roof, coloured mirror caps, 16-inch anthracite ‘Portago’ alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, and a chrome exhaust tip. Inside, there are even more statement features. The most notable change over a standard Polo Vivo are the very bright ‘Ocean Blue’ seats, but there is also anthracite headlining, silver dashboard inserts, six speakers, a leather-trimmed multi-function steering wheel and gear knob, and App Connect.

Style and attitude
Along with that little lot, and the available four colours – Limestone Grey, Pure White, Reef Blue, and Reflex Silver – the Polo Vivo Mswenko should easily live up to the ‘mswenko’ tag. In South Africa, a self-confident and stylish person is said to have ‘swag’. The word ‘mswenko’, which is unique to South Africa, also refers to a person’s style, attitude and general demeanour.

In Volkswagen South Africa dealers from October 2020, the Polo Vivo Mswenko is based on the 1.4-litre 63kW Polo Vivo Comfortline, and costs R246,900. A three-year/120,000km warranty is standard, along with a six-year anti-corrosion warranty. A Volkswagen Maintenance Plan as well as a Volkswagen Service Plan are available as options, and service intervals are 15,000kms.

Since its introduction in March 2010, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo has been the most popular car in South Africa, with over 261,285 registered. Originally based on the fourth-generation European Polo, the Vivo took the shape of the fifth-generation Polo in February 2018. One of the reasons for its success may be that its cost of ownership over a three-year cycle makes it one of the most affordable cars to own in the South African market. Proof that swag confidence is more than style deep.

As Volkswagen starts production of Model Year 2021 cars, a raft of changes have been introduced across the range, and the Polo benefits from small amendments to its specification and engine choices.

The largest external change to Volkswagen’s supermini is the the positioning of the ‘Polo’ model designation badge, which now appears spaced out under the ‘VW’ roundel on the tailgate of the car, as with the new Golf. The roundel itself has been revised, too, and now adopts the simplified VW logo which first first unveiled in autumn 2019.

‘Extra reassurance’
SEL trim now gains the choice of the three-cylinder, 1.0-litre TSI 93bhp petrol engine, while the Polo range now begins with SE trim. Across all Polo trim levels, Emergency Call Service has been added, which Volkswagen states ‘brings extra reassurance in the event of an incident’.

Further changes are set to be announced at a later date. The sound-optimised ‘Beats’ model is to be given a new exterior and interior treatment, which we suspect, is part of a wider-reaching round of revisions or mid-cycle refresh, given that the sixth-generation model has now been on sale for just over three years.

RDE2-compliant engines
Elsewhere, other Volkswagens receive new ‘VW’ and ‘R-Line’ logos, and all compatible models have been updated to include the latest ‘MIB3’ infotainment system, bringing the benefit of wireless Apple CarPlay – alongside streaming and internet – thanks to an integrated eSIM. Additionally, cleaner RDE2-compliant engines are being introduced on all models throughout the coming months.

The T-Cross, the Polo’s SUV brother – and Volkswagen’s smallest SUV – is also fitted with the new VW roundel, and MIB3, featuring wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity and a three-year subscription to We Connect Plus. The T-Cross range also gains fully RDE2-compliant engines, with the addition of a three-cylinder, 1.0-litre TSI 107bhp DSG unit. The existing 93, 112, and 147bhp options remain.

Sarah Cox, Head of Marketing at Volkswagen UK said: ‘Model Year updates usually bring a host of improvements, but the introduction of a new infotainment system, the stylish new badge for much of the range, and the latest RDE2-compliant engines rolling out across the rest of the year, on top of many other changes, combine to create a step above and beyond the regular update.’

The Volkswagen Polo returned to the most popular cars in the UK chart in July, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). With 2,932 Polos registered, the small Volkswagen was in seventh place, marking the first time it had been in the rundown since February 2020. However, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Polo maintained its eighth position in the year-to-date top ten figures – 13,046 Polos have been registered since the start of 2020.

The Vauxhall Corsa topped the chart, with 5,455 registrations, no doubt a benefit of the all-new model now hitting the UK. The Ford Fiesta was in second place with 5,421 units, with another blue oval-badged model, the Focus, third, 4,981 cars finding homes. The Volkswagen Golf and Mercedes-Benz A-Class rounded out the top five cars, with 3,936 and 3,922 units respectively.

Pent-up demand
Unsurprisingly, UK registrations were down 41.9 per cent when compared to 2019 year-to-date figures. The SMMT reports that pent-up demand saw registrations rally in July with an 11.3 per cent increase to 174,887 vehicles. By the end of the year, though, it forecasts overall tallies to be down by 30 per cent, totalling £20bn in lost sales.* The UK’s top ten most popular new cars during July 2020 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) were as follows:

1 Vauxhall Corsa: 5,455 (23,101, 3rd)
2 Ford Fiesta: 5,421 (23,126, 1st)
3 Ford Focus: 4,981 (23,126, 2nd)
4 Volkswagen Golf: 3,936 (21,825, 4th)

5 Mercedes-Benz A-Class: 3,922 (17,648, 6th)
6 Nissan Qashqai: 2,971 (17,777, 5th)

7 Volkswagen Polo: 2,932 (13,046, 8th)
8 Mini: 2,906 (15,146, 7th)
9 Volkswagen Tiguan: 2.880 (12,822, 9th)
10 Ford Kuga: 2,686

(The 2020 year-to-date top ten most popular car absent from July 2020’s UK registration figures was the tenth-placed Toyota Yaris with 12,646 units recorded.)

* Based on an expected shortfall of c708,000 units at an average cost from JATO of c£28,000 per vehicle.