PoloDriver

The Polo’s popularity was unwavering during December 2011, as it sold 2742 units, making it once again the UK’s sixth best-selling car according to the last set of figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The UK industry body also released 2011’s overall sales figures this morning, and the Polo was nothing but consistent, ending the year in seventh place in the country’s top 10 best-selling cars chart, with 45,992 cars finding homes. It was a similar but more successful story for the Ford Fiesta; Uncle Henry’s now global supermini sold 5411 units in December, taking the top spot. It ended the year in similar style, selling 96,112 cars, and top of the UK sales chart.

The supermini segment remains the largest in the UK, with a market share almost unchanged on 2010 at 36.3%, while new car demand totalled 1,941,253 units in 2011, down 4.4% on 2010, but ahead of the 1.92 million forecast. Registrations in December 2011 fell by 3.7% to 119,188 units and the market was down 1.8% in quarter four, while diesel and alternatively-fuelled cars both took record market shares over the year. The SMMT also says that average new car CO2 emissions fell to a new low of 138.1g/km in 2011, down 4.2% on the 2010 level, and the Volkswagen Golf was the best-selling diesel model.

‘2011 proved to be a challenging year for the UK motor industry. Total new car registrations were slightly ahead of industry expectations at 1.94 million units, still down 4.4% on 2010,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. ‘Weak economic growth will make trading conditions tough in 2012, but record numbers of new and updated models, significantly improved fuel efficiency and exciting new technologies will help to encourage consumers into showrooms. Business and consumer confidence will be the key to a successful year, so it will be important that government delivers on its growth strategy and helps to resolve instability in the Euro Zone.’ The top 10 best-selling cars in the UK for December 2011 and for the year overall (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 5411 (96,112, 1st)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 5258 (77,751, 3rd)
3 Vauxhall Astra: 4856 (62,575, 5th)
4 Ford Focus: 4047 (81,832, 2nd)
5 Volkswagen Golf: 4031 (63,688, 4th)
6 Volkswagen Polo: 2742 (45,992, 7th)
7 Mini: 2706 (35,845, 10th)
8 Nissan Qashqai: 2580 (39,406, 9th)
9 Vauxhall Insignia: 2494 (46,264, 6th)
10 Hyundai i10: 2411

(The 2011 top 10 best-seller absent from December’s sales figures, is the BMW 3 Series selling 42,471 units in eighth place.)

Volkswagen recorded one of its strongest performances at the 2011 Australia’s Best Car Awards, taking five category wins. For the second consecutive year, the Polo 66TDI took the ‘Best Light Car over $20,000’. Other Volkswagen Group Australia winners included the Golf 90TSI (‘Best Small Car under $35,000’), Jetta 118TSI (‘Best Medium Car under $50,000’), Tiguan 103TDI (‘Best SUV under $40,000’), and Touareg V6 TDI (‘Best Luxury SUV over $60,000’).

Anke Koeckler, Volkswagen Group Australia’s Managing Director, was honoured to receive these accolades: ‘2011 has been huge for Volkswagen, with awards such as these, it is really the perfect conclusion to what has been an overwhelmingly positive year. The Polo continues to impress, being recognised for the second consecutive year. One of our strongest and most popular models, the Golf 90TSI, has been judged as one of Australia’s best vehicles marking it the sixth time a Golf has appeared amongst the winners at Australia’s Best Cars.’

The Australia’s Best Cars judges were particularly impressed with the Volkswagen Polo: ‘The Volkswagen Polo has redefined the class with the German carmaker adding a touch of esteem and luxury to a sector of the market not traditionally known for above average levels of quality and refinement.’ Australia’s Best Car Awards are now in their eleventh year and are a co-operation between the seven State and Territory based car clubs of Australia. It is the nation’s most comprehensive and independent consumer vehicle testing and award program.

Australian motoring website Drive has named the Polo 77TSI as the Best City Car in its Car of the Year 2011 awards. The Volkswagen supermini took the overall title in 2010, and the car was an unanimous choice by the judges for 2011’s accolade, largely due to its ‘great engine, excellent road manners and classy cabin.’ Up against the Kia Rio Si and the Toyota Yaris (both newer rivals), the judges described the latest iteration of the Polo as ‘a little Volkswagen with big car credentials,’ stating that ‘the fifth-generation Polo’s 1.2-litre turbo engine delivers unrivalled performance and refinement for a car priced from $19,850.’

Another Australian website has also praised the Polo highly. Pitting the small VW against its 10 chief rivals in a Light Car mega-test, motoring.com.au stated that ‘There are ample reasons the Polo has won more trophies than the athletics champion at the school sports carnival. It’s earned almost straight As in a category dominated by B and C-grade students. You might argue it’s not fair that one of the richest kids in school gets all the kudos, but in this instance, the $22,350 Polo is worth every cent and has earned each of its accolades.’

The Polo 6R ended 2011 with as much success as it enjoyed in both 2009 and 2010. European sales were up by 1.2 per cent in October 2011 (compared to same month the year before) and it ended the year by being the second best-selling car in Europe, behind its bigger brother, the Golf. The figures – released by industry body Jato on 20 December – speak for themselves. The Golf’s 2011 European sales tally was 449,882, while 329,891 Polos found new homes. Volkswagen’s Passat finished seventh, making the German manufacturer Europe’s most popular in 2011, with 1,550,036 cars sold. Ford was second, its popular Fiesta and Focus models accounting for almost 600,000 new car sales alone. The Polo (including its Vento saloon variant) was a similar success story in India last year, with Volkswagen reporting sales of 74,305 units for the January–December 2011 period.

The most exciting Polo news of 2011 was the final unveiling of the Polo R WRC, with which Volkswagen Motorsport intends to complete in the 2013 World Rally Championship. Signing the first factory driver, Sébastien Ogier was the icing on the cake. Other motorsport series also continued around the world, with the Volkswagen Polo Cup India being renamed the Volkswagen Polo R Cup India, and the Polo Vivo made its track and rally debut. As far as the road car was concerned, it still continued to win awards and make a good impression, especially on us, as we took a Polo GTI on a 1000-mile road trip. Strong sales figures in the UK and further afield continued to add to the Polo’s success. (Bold entries are illustrated by the picture above that particular month.)

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