PoloDriver

Volkswagen Group South Africa has once again seen its small car stars light up the market, with the Polo Vivo and Polo 6R dominating their segment last month. Continuing the market dominance shown in recent months, the Polo Vivo was once again the top-selling passenger car in South Africa with 2256 units sold, while the latest fifth-generation Polo shifted 1766 examples. Overall, Volkswagen Group South Africa has kept its top position in the passenger car market with total sales of 6461 units and a market share of 21.9 per cent.

‘Volkswagen Group South Africa maintained its top position in the passenger car market for the fourth consecutive month in 2012. Our two top-selling Brands, Polo Vivo and Polo continued their market dominance in their respective segments,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director, Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa. ‘In spite of the passenger car market decline, the encouraging fact is that the selling rate of the new cars per day in April decreased by only 10.5 per cent when compared to the selling rate in March, when the seasonal analysis of the selling rate would have indicated an expected 13 per cent decline,’ he added.

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 104bhp 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.

It was business as usual at the third round of the Engen Volkswagen Cup at the Aldo Scribante Raceway in Port Elizabeth on 28 April, with much bumping and barging, many drivers attempting to tackle corners two, three, or four abreast! A full 29-car grid ensured space was at a premium, but the pair of Polo races only saw two racers unable to finish the timed laps. Sudhir Matai from Car magazine was one, hit from behind and run off the track, resulting in a damaged front end from striking the tyre barrier. A second race start was possible due to work put in by Matai’s pit team and fellow Engen racers, but a damaged lower control arm saw him retire. Ettienne Prinsloo was the other unfortunate casualty.

In race one, Dorian Garvie and Kosie Weyers both sat on the first line of the grid, with Jordan Pepper and Bryan Morgan behind them. Mark Silverwood and Kelvin van der Linde brought up the rear. After the lights had turned green, Garvie tried to hold onto his lead, while Silverwood was on a mission to fight through the cars in front of him, netting him two places during the race. Despite Garvie nudging Pepper, the latter finished seventh, while Garvie crossed the line in 16th. At the front, van der Linde gave Weyers a friendly tap, giving him the lead which he held onto until he took the chequered flag. Weyers was also under attack from Silverwood, but stayed firm in second place. Silverwood came home third.

Race two was just as frenetic, with Silverwood chasing second place with Jeffrey Kruger. Kruger made an overtaking move and got through, soon followed by Mathew Hodges. Weyers had a go, too, but a struggle with fellow racer Devin Robertson saw the pair trading blows down the main straight. Meanwhile, Silverwood ended his third-place battle with Hodges when he exited on the apex of the final corner, finishing 16th, giving Hodges the higher runner-up position. Van der Linde finished first, while Kruger came home second. The Engen Volkswagen Cup racers will take to the track again for round four of the South African national championship at the Kyalami circuit in Johannesburg on 26 May.

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 track in technically-identical, 2.0 234bhp Volkswagen Polo Vivo racers.

RACE RESULTS
Race 1
1 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
2 Kosie Weyers (2: Engen Xtreme)
3 Mark Silverwood (38: Q8 Oils)

Race 2
1 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
2 Jeffrey Kruger (6: Indy Oil)
3 Mathew Hodges (ITR Africa)

Overall standings
1 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
2 Jeffrey Kruger (6: IndyOil)
3 Kosie Weyers (2: Engen Xtreme)

Here’s a nice surprise for a Friday afternoon. After its initial launch in Germany late last year, the Polo R Line is now available for UK customers. Not to be confused with the much-rumoured, high-performance Polo R, the R Line brings style to the impressive specification of the popular Polo Match. A unique ‘R’ styling pack with deeper front and rear bumpers, gloss black radiator grille, deeper side sills, and 16-inch ‘Mallory’ alloy wheels gives the Polo more visual presence, while dark-tinted glass from the B-pillar back and front fog lights with cornering function add yet more optical punch.

The interior builds on the sports-orientated look of the exterior, with aluminium sill plates, sports seats with unique ‘Kyalami’ upholstery and embossed ‘R’ logos. A leather-trimmed three-spoke sports steering wheel with ‘R’ logo, and aluminium race-look pedals and black headlining complete the interior makeover. Equipment highlights include an RCD 310 radio/CD player with six speakers and multi-device/iPod interface, ‘Climatic’ semi-automatic air conditioning, a multifunction trip computer, electric windows, height-adjustable front seats, a split-folding rear-seat backrest, electrically operated and heated door mirrors, illuminated vanity mirrors, reading lights, tyre pressure monitor and remote central locking.

Available with one engine, the Polo R Line is powered by the turbocharged 1.2-litre TSI unit with 104bhp, coupled with a six-speed manual gearbox. Performance is a little off GTI pace, with 62mph coming up in 9.7 seconds from rest, and a top speed of 118mph, but fuel consumption is a very respectable 53.3mpg on the combined cycle, while emissions are a low 124g/km. How much for the unique Polo R Line style? Prices start at £15,195 on the road for the three-door model, rising to £15,815 for the five-door. The striking Polo R Line is available to order at Volkswagen Retailers now, with the first deliveries expected in July.

The second round of the South African National Rally Championship took place last weekend (21-22 April) in Mpumalanga, and after two days of hard competition, the BP Volkswagen rally team took its first podium of the season. The Sasol Rally saw Hans Weijs Jnr and Bjorn Degandt take their new Polo S2000 to third place – on their second ever event in South Africa. ‘We were pushing at maximum on Friday,’ said Weijs. ‘We did lose a bit of time with one or two issues, but that was fixed and and we got a good result. The team did excellent work on the car and we pushed very hard for our first podium.’

Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries claimed seventh in the S2000 class, a reward for surviving a tough weekend. The pair were robbed several minutes with two punctures, and despite claiming a number of second and third place stage finishes during the two days of competition, there wasn’t enough distance for them to close the gap. Teammates Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson fought their way into 11th place by the second last stage of the event, also having lost time due to punctures. The pair were unable to make the start line of the final stage of the rally and were sadly unable to complete the event.

The S2000 Challenge, a new category in the championship for the 2012 season, saw Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin claim the class victory in their BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000 – finishing sixth overall, just four minutes and 32 seconds behind the overall event leaders. Zulu and Peskin were ninth at the end of stage one, climbing to seventh by the end of the first day and moving into sixth just three stages from the finish. The pair produced a consistently strong performance throughout the event to finish 20 seconds ahead of their nearest class rivals. Meanwhile, BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1600 pair Megan Verlaque and Hilton Auffray finished the Sasol Rally in second place in the S1600 class.

‘It has been a very satisfying result after a week of hard work,’ said Mike Rowe, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport. ‘A podium result is very rewarding at this point in the development of the new BP Volkswagen Polo S2000, as is having five Volkswagen cars finish in the top 10. Add an S2000 Challenge victory and three podium places in the S1600 class, and it has been a good rally weekend for Volkswagen Motorsport.’

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).