PoloDriver

Another week, another new Polo TV commercial. We first saw this epic (in more ways than one) mini-blockbuster TV spot for the fifth-generation Polo with a French soundtrack, as the 69-second commercial was made by the advertising agency Agence V in Paris. But here is the English-language version, showing what Volkswagen thinks the ‘remarkable’ and newest incarnation of the Polo can do for your popularity. While it might not get you into films, it may well just boost your image…

The Polo has posted double-digit European sales gains in February 2010 compared to the same month in 2009 according to provider of automotive data and intelligence, JATO Dynamics. Along with the Fiat Punto and Renault Clio, the Polo bucked the trend seen by its larger stablemate the Golf, which has seen sales slip 4.0% in Europe over the same period. The majority of the dip is attributed to the German market, where the Golf’s sales figure’s are down by 9.4%. While the larger Volkswagen still dominates the European sales charts, the Ford Fiesta is catching up, only 4737 units behind.

The top 10 European best sellers in February 2010 were as follows:

1 Volkswagen Golf
2 Ford Fiesta
3 Renault Clio
4 Fiat Punto
5 Volkswagen Polo
6 Peugeot 207
7 Fiat Panda
8 Vauxhall Corsa
9 Renault Megane
10 Vauxhall Astra

The Polo has picked up yet another prize at the Fleet News Awards 2010 announced this week. Volkswagen picked up top honours in two categories, the Polo taking the Best Supermini title, while the Golf was named as Best Lower Medium Car and the 2010 Company Car of the Year. The awards are siginificant; Volkswagen predict that the fleet market will account for 37% of fifth-generation Polo sales in the UK.

Presented at a ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, the prestigious Fleet News Awards honour the fleet industry’s top achievers for the past 12 months. On collecting the prizes, Volkswagen’s Head of Fleet Services Vincent Kinner said: ‘To receive these awards from Fleet News is a great honour and they are a fantastic endorsement for two crucial models and the Volkswagen brand as a whole.’

Praising the Polo, Fleet News said: ‘If fleets had to choose one small car to offer drivers, the Polo’s great all-round strengths make it an obvious selection while its image also has strong appeal for staff. The Polo has excellent resale values, strong wholelife costs and outstanding build quality with the prestige of the Volkswagen badge. It has a wide choice of body styles and engines with low benefit-in-kind costs. The Polo is perfect for the fleet manager and driver.’ The Polo fought off stiff competition from the Ford Fiesta, Honda Jazz, Mazda2, Mini and SEAT Ibiza to be awarded the top honour.

Look at these. We’ve managed to get our hands on one of the Volkswagen press packs that the company handed out to journalists at the recent Geneva motor show. Consisting of a bound-in softback book of press releases for the traditionalists and an aluminium lightweight, VW logo-embossed USB stick for the techies, both mediums feature information on the new Polo GTI and CrossPolo, as well as the other models that Volkswagen pulled the covers off at the major Swiss expo.

Tucked away in the gallery section for the Polo GTI, though, we were pleased to find these rendering sketches, which we thought we’d share with you. They show how the car could have looked even more aggressive. The hot-shot Polo which will reach UK shores in August and, as we’ve said before, really looks the business. But, these sketches show what could have been. Final production cars rarely look like the sketches or concepts they’re based on we admit, but there’s real potential with these. We know Volkswagen is considering a new rally programme, so… forest-bound motorsport Polo anyone?

It’s finally here! The April 2010 issue of What Car? magazine on sale now features the long-awaited £14,830 Polo 1.2 TSI three-door squaring up to its premium supermini competition in the form of the style-led Citroën DS3, as well as the Mini Cooper and Renault Clio GT. A mammoth 14-page test covers everything from performance to ride and handling, quality and reliability to space and practicality. What wins? We won’t give the game away here, but praising the new turbocharged engine the magazine says, ‘a small prod of the throttle is all that’s needed to send the Polo surging forward.’ Until the GTI arrives in the summer, could the new 104bhp unit be the pick of the range?