PoloDriver

Volkswagen is set to take to the road for the next six months, visiting a number of shows and exhibitions with its BlueMotion Technology products, encouraging the nation to ‘Think Blue’ and find out about the latest innovations which help cut the cost of motoring by making every drop of fuel take you further. Visitors to events including the Gadget Show Live, the Ideal Home Show Scotland in Glasgow and Gardeners’ World Live will have the opportunity to learn about Volkswagen’s range of BlueMotion Technologies by engaging with an interactive touchscreen experience and riding the ‘rollercoaster’ which takes them on a journey of discovery into the innovations which reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Visitors will also get the chance to get up close and personal with one of Volkswagen’s BlueMotion products and see for themselves that these cars are standard vehicles – but better. The Polo BlueMotion, for example, looks like a Polo, has the same safety and technology features, is conventional to drive, service and maintain – and yet returns 80.7mpg on the combined cycle and emits just 91g/km of carbon dioxide making it exempt from VED and the London Congestion Charge. Volkswagen will also be giving away tickets to some of the shows via an online competition through its @UKVolkswagenTwitter feed. For details on the events, visit the links below or the Volkswagen UK Facebook page.

Gadget Show Live 2011
NEC, Birmingham; 13–17 April
www.gadgetshowlive.net

Ideal Home Show Scotland
SECC, Glasgow; 27–30 May
www.idealhomeshowscotland.co.uk

Drive the Future at Motorexpo
Canary Wharf, London; 6–12 June
www.motorexpo.com

Gardener’s World Live
NEC, Birmingham; 15–19 June
www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com

EcoVelocity
Battersea Power Station, London; 8–11 September
www.ecovelocity.co.uk

[Source: Volkswagen UK]

The Polo Vivo’s reign as the best-selling car in South Africa continues. Figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) reveal that 2768 Polo Vivos found buyers, well over a third of Volkswagen’s total sales figures of 7292 units for March 2011. The latest fifth-generation Polo 6R –  recently announced as the 2011 South African Car of the Year – did well, too, selling 1823 units. And all this Volkswagen success in a market which increased by 3.3% when compared to February 2011. Figures faired even better than in March 2010 – 35,167 new passenger cars took to South African roads in the same month this year, up 23.6%. Year-to-date sales of new passenger cars in 2011 are 25.5% above the same first quarter sales period in 2010. With both valuable Polo brands posting such impressive sales figures, Volkswagen South Africa is a truly dominant force in the local small car market.

‘Volkswagen Group South Africa captured 20.7% of the passenger market in March. Polo Vivo was once again the top seller. Polo, sold 1823 units during March, giving the VW brand a dominant share of the small car, entry segment,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director of 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. Available as both a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines, two trim levels are available: base and Trendline. Costing from R104,065 for the 1.4 hatchback to R156,220 for the 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the 2011 Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo, built from 2005 to 2009.

While most of the people prefer the best food photographers toronto to get their project done. Anthony Ket, a photographer based in Melbourne, Australia, took these stunning sunset shots of his wife Shara’s new 2011 Polo GTI. He takes up the story of how a hotshot Polo ended up on the Ket driveway: ‘Shara has never actually owned a new car before, having always borrowed her parents car for 12 years! One night she was flipping through my many car magazines and noticed the specs on the VW Polo GTI, and instantly said, “I want this car.” 1.4-litres, twincharged, 132kw, five doors, DSG and more importantly, a base price of AUS$28,990! The hardest part was finding one, as in Australia at the moment supply is so limited that there is a 8-12 month waiting list for a vehicle to be produced and then delivered! (It’s exactly the same quotes elsewhere, especially in the UK, Anthony – PD.)

‘This wasn’t good news as Shara needed a new car quite urgently, and we were given the runaround with many Volkswagen dealers listing a Polo GTI for sale but after having contacted them and being told that they only had one demonstrator and none actually for sale, we were bitterly disappointed. Luckily, after trawling through the many fake online car adverts, we found our Flash Red Polo GTI located three hours drive away. We called the dealer, made sure it was definitely for sale and then took off the next morning on a six-hour return trip to secure the purchase. Next you know we have a shiny new VW Polo GTI siting in the driveway!’. And now you’ve got a fantastic set of pictures to go with it, Anthony.

[Images: Anthony Ket – www.anthonyket.com]

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Last month, Volkswagen Australia launched a cute new 60-second brand TV commercial campaign to ‘celebrate the unique Volkswagen product experience.’ With 30 and 45-second edits to back the full-length ad up, agency DDB Sydney produced the spots, which aim to show the whole range of Volkswagen products available. Only using sounds of everyday life from fictional satisfied VW owners, the commercials are littered with sounds of appreciation, approval and the Volkswagens themselves. And where does the Polo fit in? A yellow example can be seen exiting a corner a second in during the full-length version above…

Volkswagen ‘Word’ TV campaign credits
Agency: DDB Sydney
Executive Creative Director: Dylan Harrison
Creative Directors: Steve Wakelam/Grant McAloon
Art Director and Copywriter: Steve Wakelam
Director: Steve Rogers
DoP: Simon Duggan
Production House: Revolver
Executive Producer: Michael Ritchie
Producer: Pip Smart
Strategic Planner: Nick Andrews
TV Production: Brenden Johnson/Claire Seffrin
Business Director: Patrice Bougouin
Media Agency: Mediacom
Client: Jutta Friese/Nina van der Wees/Loren Elsegood

[Source: Campaign Brief]

It may not have gone quite to plan last weekend (25-26 March) for the BP Volkswagen rally team, just missing out on a first place at the opening round of the 2011 South African National Rally Championship, the Total Tour Natal Rally, but the team still claimed second, third and fourth places. Ultimate victory went to the Ford Fiesta team of Conrad Rautenbach and Nicolas Klinger. Jan Habig and Robert Paisley finished behind Rautenback and Klinger, while Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson crossed the line in third place, while Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries made up the top four. The blue-bonneted Polo S2000 of Giniel de Villiers and Ralph Pitchford crossed the finishing line in eighth position, making it a full-house end for the BP Volkswagen team.

Volkswagen also claimed the Manufacturer’s title at the event, with six Polo S2000s in the top 10 finishers. Then there were the privateer entries of Nicholas Ryan and co-driver Geoff Tyrer, and Japie van Niekerk and Dave Lewkowitz who rallied their cars to sixth and ninth overall respectively. ‘Getting all four of our cars to the finish was important,’ said Mike Barnard who manages the BP Volkswagen team. ‘Hard work and reliability have always been important and I’m glad to see it has remained the status quo into the new season.’ The Total Tour Natal was the first outing for the new BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000 rally car. The BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1400 of Megan Verlaque and Lirene du Plessis also debuted as the young development team tackled their first rally together, producing a class-winning and impressive performance.

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