PoloDriver

According to the latest set of figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), UK new car registrations fell in July, the first time in a year following 12 successive monthly rises. The market remains up 15.1% over the first seven months of 2009 however, and with figures down 13.2% last month, we’re pleased to report that the Polo remains in the UK’s best-sellers list. Charting in ninth place, the fifth-generation car is one position higher than June’s placing, with 2897 examples sold. The Polo’s long-standing rival, the Ford Fiesta continues to be a success story for Ford, and was once again top of the July charts, selling 6695 units.

‘A drop in private registrations compared to the scrappage-fuelled months of 2009 was expected and has brought the first market decline for 12 months,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. ‘Subdued consumer confidence and a still fragile economic recovery make the outlook for the remainder of 2010 challenging, but a stronger than expected first half means full year volumes are still forecast to exceed 2009’s total.’ Alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFV) and diesel-fuelled cars both achieved record market shares in July, with AFV volumes rising by 52.6% to take a 1.4% market share and diesel volumes up 11.8% to take a market share of 50.6%. Petrol car registrations as well as supermini and mini segment volumes fell sharply.

The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for July 2010 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 6695 (64,203, 1st)
2 Vauxhall Astra: 4919 (51,543, 3rd)
3 Vauxhall Corsa: 4714 (49,518, 4th)
4 Ford Focus: 4208 (52,522, 2nd)
5 Nissan Qashqai: 4136 (23,380, 10th)
6 Volkswagen Golf: 4082, (35,660, 5th)
7 BMW 3 Series: 3817 (24,249, 9th)
8 Vauxhall Insignia: 2941
9 Volkswagen Polo: 2897 (29,381, 6th)
10 Vauxhall Zafira: 2875

(The 2010 year-to-date best-sellers absent from July’s sales figures were the Peugeot 207 selling 26,915 units in 7th place, and the Mini with 24,500 units, putting it in 8th place overall.)

German car magazine Auto Bild has released a video on its website showing the making of the ‘With All Senses’ Polo TV spot, currently airing in mainland Europe. To our surprise, it was shot in Pinewood Studios just outside London, and features an enormous inflatable ‘Photo Bubble’ in which was the car, the actors, and all the production staff. Made entirely in the artificially-lit temporary studio, the Polo is shown in a simple, clean, and ‘beautiful’ setting, according to Auto Bild. Directed by ‘Mr Sunderland’ from the UK, the 30-second commercial depicts a prospective blindfolded Polo driver identifying the car only through touch. Head over to Auto Bild’s website to watch the behind the scenes clip, while the finished full spot can be viewed below.

[Image: Auto Bild]

Spain’s football team weren’t the only winners celebrating in South Africa in July. Volkswagen South Africa was punching the air, too, as two members of its model range finished first and second in the country’s new car sales charts. Lifting the trophy for the most units sold, the Polo Vivo achieved record monthly sales of 3141 cars, keeping its lead as South Africa’s favourite passenger car brand. The fifth-generation New Polo stood just below the Vivo on the podium in second place, with sales of 1505 units.

‘Of significance was the July export volume of 7728 New Polos to global right hand drive markets. Our global markets are holding up well and we are on track to achieve the full year planned export volume of 75,000 Polos,’ commented Mike Glendinning, Director of Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa. ‘Volkswagen Group South Africa was again the front runner in the passenger market with sales of 6949 cars and a resultant market share of 23.8%,’ he continued.

During July 2010, a total of 29,203 new passenger cars were sold in South Africa, up 9% when compared to June, and by 32.4% when compared to July 2009. This brings the overall year-to-date market in 2010 to a level 28.6% above the same period last year. ‘As is usually the case for the month of July, sales to rental car companies provided an elevated base of support for new car sales during the month, despite the above average demand from rental car companies during the first quarter of the year ahead of the Soccer World Cup,’ Glendinning stated.

The 2010 Sasol South African Rally Championship resumed after a six-week break in the same thrilling fashion experienced at the end of May. Staged in Port Elizabeth on 23-24 July, the Volkswagen Rally 2010 is the fifth round of the eight event championship, and saw Castrol Team Toyota’s Johnny Gemmell take the fight to VW on their home turf to win the event by just 1.5 seconds from Enzo Kuun. The second BP VW Racing Polo S2000 driven by Jan Habig finished behind Kuun in third.

Gemmell and navigator Drew Sturrock took just three special stages on day one of the event to assert their authority on the rally. The first stage was won by Conrad Rautenbach by a 12-second margin over Gemmell with the second quickest time. A win for Gemmell on the second stage saw the gap close to just 1.2 seconds with that deficit converted to a lead of 13 seconds over Habig by the end of the third stage. By the end of the first day Kuun had taken over from Habig as Gemmell’s main challenger, but was 5.3 seconds off the lead.

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With so much going on the Polo world these days, we thought we’d start to take a monthly look at what have been the most popular posts on PoloDriver. In July 2010, two new models proved popular among visitors to the site; the South African entry-level Volkswagen, the Polo Vivo, as well as the new performance-orientated flagship Polo, the 178bhp GTI.

Polo Vivo: The new ‘budget’ South African Polo Vivo is selling well in its home country and we’re finding it’s generating interest for us, too. The announcement of the car tops our list, with an entry showing more details and wallpaper in fifth place.

CrossPolo and Polo GTI: Another two new models generating a lot of interest from prospective buyers. The post in second place shows Auto Motor und Sport renderings, rather than the real cars, while coverage of the new Polo GTI brochure is in sixth position in July’s top 10, followed by first drive verdict links from Autocar and Auto Express.

Series 2 Polo, 1981-1994: The model history of the second-generation Polo is proving one of the most popular sections on the site, as the oldest cars approach their 29th birthdays. The plentiful list of special editions is what caught most visitors’ eyes this month.

Series 3 Polo, 1994-2001: Likewise, the Series 3 Polo special edition list proved just as popular, one place below the Series 2’s in fourth.

Details of Rieger Tuning’s parts for the current fifth-generation Polo (6R) and a GTI International 2010 event report round out the top 10. Missed a story? The full list of PoloDriver’s most popular posts for July 2010 – with links – is below.

1 Vivo la Vivo! Volkswagen South Africa launches affordable ‘budget’ Polo
2 Auto Motor und Sport offers appetisers of 2010 CrossPolo and Polo GTI flavours
3 Series 2 Polo: 1981-1990 – the specials
4 Series 3 Polo: 1994-2001 – the specials
5 Polo Vivo information, gallery and wallpapers added to vw.co.za
6 2010 Polo GTI brochure
7 2010 Polo GTI: the UK’s Autocar and Auto Express deliver their first verdicts
8 Series 2 Polo: 1981-1994
9 Rieger Tuning 6R Polo
10 GTI International 2010