PoloDriver

The new Polo GTI is to be Volkswagen’s first product launched digitally on the internet. Presented exclusively to customers in Europe via social networking site Facebook, users are alerted to the sporty new VW by the slogan, ‘Fast Lane – Driven by Fun.’ The company claims that the new exclusively digital campaign is not car advertising in the classic sense, but that it ‘specifically harnesses the diverse opportunities offered by social networks to inspire young drivers for the Polo GTI.’

Speaking about the launch of the English-language ‘Volkswagen International’ Facebook page, Luca de Meo, Director of Marketing, Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand, said: ‘Our aim is to inspire young people for Volkswagen brand products – in an international dimension. This campaign gets us close to customers and at the same time gives us the opportunity to engage in an intensive dialog with them.’

In typical, subtle Volkswagen fashion, three videos where the new Polo GTI is not immediately in evidence have been produced for the channel at www.facebook.com/volkswagen. The clips depict clever scenes that add an unusual touch to everyday life; a giant slide appears at subway steps, supermarket carts that are particularly agile, and an elevator that sounds like a rocket taking off. The films aim to convey the thrill of speed without encouraging fast driving.

Volkswagen’s social networking profile also includes the most important product information about the new Polo GTI as well as links to the company’s other global Facebook activities. A ‘Fast Wall’ has been added for member messages, and there are photographs of the Polo GTI itself. In addition, a competition – where a new Polo GTI is the prize – motivates users to be creative and submit their own ‘Fast Lane’ contributions.

If you’re marketing a car made in Germany, why not shoot the a series of TV commercials for the Indian market in South Africa? That’s precisely what DDB Mudra have done for its new campaign for the Polo in India. Aimed at the local market (the car is made in Volkswagen’s new Pune factory), the message is that the car’s extensively tested efficiency and suitability for Indian roads means that no further testing from owners is necessary. In other words, it’s tailor-made for Indian drivers, but has the might of German engineering behind it.

We’ll be featuring each of the four TV commercials in the series separately, so here’s the first. Focusing on the Polo’s increased ground clearance, the traditional Volkswagen element of subtle humour is clear to see, and being produced for the local market but under the brand umbrella, it fits neatly into VW’s global advertising strategy and feel. The ‘Made in India’ campaign also features a wide range of innovative print, outdoor and digital media. The new Polo costs from RS 4.5 lakh, and will face heated competition from the Maruti Swift, Ford Figo, Honda Jazz, Fiat Punto and Hyundai i20.

Volkswagen Polo ‘Made in India’ TV campaign credits
Creative agency: DDB Mudra
Chief creative officer: Bobby Pawar
National creative director: Rajeev Raja
Copy: Rajeev Raja/Hemant Sharma
Art: Ajmal Mohammad
Planning: Michael Follet
Client servicing: Ashish Marwah, Jay Mehta, Punit Bhatt, Vaibhav Bhargava
Agency film department: Tapan Sharma, Anil Sonawane
Production house: Stink
Director: Christopher Von Reiss
Post-production: Redrum
Media agency: Mediacom

The Polo is still a favourite of UK buyers according to the latest set of Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures for May 2010, sitting in 7th place in the top 10 sales chart, down one place from April’s 6th (though 68 units more were sold than the previous month). It’s also ahead of rivals such as the Peugeot 207 and Renault Clio, both of which don’t feature in the May tallies at all. The bigger Golf is two places ahead at number five. Overall, UK new car registrations climbed 13.5% in May to 153,095 units, marking the eleventh successive monthly rise, preceding an expected market decline.

Volumes over the first five months of the year have risen 22.0%, with the growth reflecting the weakness of the 2009 market. However, May 2010 sales tallies are still 14.6% or 26,177 units down on the 2008 level. Full year registrations total expected to dip slightly as scrappage boost comes to an end. Ford’s Fiesta was knocked off the best selling model list for the first time this year in May, by the Ford Focus. Growth in mini and supermini cars cooled, reflective of the rate of gain in previous months.

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

1 Ford Focus: 7163 units (41,419, 2nd)
2 Vauxhall Astra: 6743 units (36,099, 3rd)
3 Ford Fiesta: 6619 units (49,229, 1st)
4 Vauxhall Corsa: 5950 units (35,162, 4th)
5 Volkswagen Golf: 4314 units (27,092, 5th)
6 BMW 3 Series: 3732 units
7 Volkswagen Polo: 3721 units (22,561, 6th)
8: Mini: 3445 units (17,341 units, 9th)
9 Nissan Qashqai: 3359 units
10 Audi A3: 3093 units (16,346, 10th)

(The 2010 year-to-date best-sellers absent from May’s sales figures were the Peugeot 207 selling 20,346 units in 7th place and the Renault Clio, with 17,454 units, putting it in 8th place overall.)

No sooner had the Polo Saloon been unveiled in Moscow, news filtered out that it is heading to India in the autumn of 2010, under the ‘Vento’ name. We’d suspected as much when news stories leaked the possible change of moniker a few weeks ago, and a market launch has always been on the cards for what many car manufacturers see as one of the world’s emerging sales markets. To be built in the company’s Chakan, Pune plant (the same factory where the local market Polo hatchback is manufactured), engine choice is to be the same as the Eastern European cars.

Two 1.6-litre engines will provide the motive power (we suspect both the petrol and diesel units to have 104bhp), while manual and automatic transmissions – the latter for petrol models only – will be offered. Positioned as a premium entry level Sedan in the country, and Volkswagen say that the car has been completely designed to the needs and expectations of the Indian consumer. Standard equipment includes air-conditioning, ABS and a raft of airbags, while like the Polo hatchback, the car boasts higher ground clearance for the Indian market over its European relatives.

The Vento (Italian for ‘wind’) will be the seventh model from the Brand Volkswagen for the Indian market and takes a name from Volkswagen’s past. The third-generation Golf saloon was called Vento in when it arrived in 1992, replacing the Jetta. The fifth-generation Polo is rumoured to be heading to the US (where, coincidentally, the Jetta name is still going strong) – is this the car that could take the Polo name Stateside? Indian motoring magazine Quarter Mile has a special preview feature on the Vento in their June 2010 issue. Download the magazine’s special online version here.

May 2010 saw a total of 25,724 new passenger cars sold in South Africa. The total number of new passenger car sales in the country increased by 9.1% when compared to April 2010, and by 36.3% when compared to May 2009, bringing the year-to-date May market in 2010 to a level 28.3% above the same period for 2009. And the top-selling car of May 2010? The new Polo Vivo, with 2546 units finding homes.

‘Volkswagen of South Africa continued to dominate the passenger car market with 22.6% share and total sales of 5808 units. We are very encouraged by the reaction from the market to our new entry level Polo Vivo,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director of Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen of South Africa. ‘The new car sales cycle therefore appears set to continue growing through 2010, but possibly characterised by slower rates of growth during the second half of the year than what have been experienced so far in 2010,’ he continued.

The Polo Vivo, which was launched in March 2010 as an entry-level model for the South African market, was also the country’s best-selling passenger car brand in April 2010, shifting 2187 units. Available as both a hatchback and saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 103bhp 1.6-litre units, two trim levels are available: base and Trendline. Costing from R101,500 for the lowliest 1.4 model, the Polo Vivo is based on the facelifted version of the Series 4 Polo, built from 2005 to 2009.