PoloDriver

Here’s the latest TV commercial in the global advertising campaign sales push for the new Polo. Marketed to the individual needs and aspirations in each market, this Volkswagen South Africa spot features that particular country’s new Polo marketing message, ‘Expect Big Things’. The big thing in this latest 60-second commercial is the fact that snow is falling in the middle of a heat wave in Cape Town. But of course, advertising being what it is, the snow just might not be real snow at all…

[Behind the scenes image courtesy of flxy]

The car’s very new, the accessories brochure even newer. Though not listed on the UK Volkswagen website quite yet, an official new Polo accessories brochure is available on the company’s online German pages. From styling add-ons to alloy wheels, from DVD satellite-navigation systems to in-car entertainment, and from practical storage solutions to clothing and model cars, this catalogue details it all. It’s all in English, too. Download a copy here.

And, while we can’t guarantee that all or any of these items are available from your local Volkswagen retailer, we can let you know that the accessories can be seen in action in the video below, also available for download.

It’s been absent for almost a year, but the Polo has charged back into Britain’s best-selling cars list to become one of the most-sold cars in the country. The first cars sales statistics for 2010 have been released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and the new Polo charts at number four for January, no doubt buoyed by the arrival of the three-door model in December 2009. The five-door version has been on sale since October.

Registrations rose by 29.8% in January, but it’s not just the Polo which has benefitted. Rivals such as the Vauxhall Corsa also did well, coming third (only just beating the Volkswagen), while the traditional mainstay of the best-sellers list, the Ford Fiesta, topped January’s chart, selling more than half the Polo’s volume again. Volkswagen UK reported an unprecedented demand for the new Polo when sales began last autumn with predictions up 83%, and that certainly seems to be transferring into purchases.

The new Polo is now the best-selling Volkswagen in the UK, even beating the Golf in the sales race, which is two places below at number six. With 1.2 TSI, 1.6 TDI 90, BlueMotion and GTI models all joining the new Polo family by the summer, we can see no reason why the impressive fifth-generation model won’t stay in the top sellers list for a long time to come. The SMMT’s best-selling cars for January 2010 are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 8885 units
2 Ford Focus: 6953 units
3 Vauxhall Corsa: 5788 units
4 Volkswagen Polo: 5707 units
5 Vauxhall Astra: 5075 units
6 Volkswagen Golf: 4388 units
7 Peugeot 207: 3853 units
8 Hyundai i10: 2955 units
9 Audi A3: 2738 units
10 Fiat 500: 2439 units

The UK’s Autocar reports that Volkswagen will is currently contemplating its motorsport future, and, excitingly, a decision to enter the 2012 World Rally Championship (WRC). The company will make a final decision on its motorsport plans later next month, but if the WRC promoters can convince the German giant of the series’ worth, a new 2.0-litre, 200bhp-plus Polo rally car could well be in the offing.

A tarmac or gravel-spec motorsport Polo is nothing new. Volkswagen launched the club-level Volkswagen Polo Rally Challenge in 2001 and officially fielded a Super 1600 version of the Polo GTI around the same time. There were Series 4 Polo-based rally cars, too, with entries in events in South Africa and Europe from 2002. Super 2000 (S2000) Polos were even running in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge as late as year. If WRC participation becomes a reality and the new Polo goes rallying, it will add yet another motorsport string to its bow; the track-based Volkswagen Polo Cup India starts in June.

Now that the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup championship has been replaced by a Scirocco-based series and with the WRC reportedly switching to S2000 cars in 2011, the time could be right for a new motorsport version of the Polo. Autocar states that even Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen thinks a new Polo (or Golf) rally car could be a possibility: ‘If we decided to go with the WRC, my view is that we would need at least a year and a half to prepare, so we would be looking at coming in for 2012,’ he said.

Following their announcement last October that multi-spoke 17 and 18-inch alloy wheels and lowering springs will be available for the new Polo, German tuners JE Design have gone one better and built a tuned version of Volkswagen’s new baby. Primarily to promote the company’s new programme for the car, to our eyes, the striking JE Design striking fifth-generation Polo is similar in style to the Volkswagen Polo Cup India race cars.

The chaps from Leingarten have manufactured their own parts for the body kit from high quality ABS plastic to an original equipment specification. A unique CNC-milling process ensures a perfect fit and the carbon-look bumper inserts, together with the headlamp eyebrows, add a touch of menace. The body kit (which also includes deeper side skirts) is priced at €1528 including VAT, while the twin sports exhausts which poke out of the carbon-look rear lip are €599.

LED daytime running lights can be added for €399 and are fitted in the standard front bumper air inlets. JE Design state that they have two uses; when dipped headlights are turned on, the LEDs become parking lights while when main headlamps are engaged, traffic safety is improved as the LEDs are much brighter, like most modern-day Audis. At the moment, it appears to be more show than go, with no engine upgrades listed. Contact official JE Design UK importers Prestige Styling or JE Design direct for more details.