PoloDriver

This pair of commercials are a little different to the usual Volkswagen type of advertising. Still playing the humour card, but to much less an effect, they’re promoting the outgoing Polo BlueMotion, under the ‘Selected Volkswagen’ banner.

(Thanks to German Car Scene.)

The new Polo has only just turned a wheel in anger and already there are rumours circulating about upcoming models. The German Car Blog reports today that leading German car news weekly Auto Motor und Sport has inside information on at least two still-to-come Polo variants.

The much-spectulated MPV version has been canned according to various sources, but updated flavours of both the CrossPolo (Polo Dune in the UK market) and GTI are very much still in the frame.

Little brother: new Polo GTI due in 2010 once again borrows its sharp styling from big brother Golf GTI, and will pack a 169bhp punch. Will a hardcore ‘R’ version follow?

As well as showing both the three-door and BlueMotion versions of the new Polo at the Frankfurt motor show next week, we think Volkswagen will unwrap the 169bhp TSI-engined GTI version at one of 2010’s major car expos; either Geneva in March or Paris in September.

A jacked-up two-wheel drive CrossPolo with SUV-like styling will also arrive, more than likely completing the new Polo model palette.

Faux-by-Four: upcoming two-wheel drive CrossPolo has inherited styling flourishes from its predecessor (Polo Dune in the UK) and will have both petrol and diesel engines

Head over here to read the (German) Auto Motor und Sport article, which also details other 2010 upcoming Volkswagen models.

(Pictures: Auto Motor und Sport)

Using the same car as sister motoring publication iMotor, leading UK car weekly Auto Express tests the new Polo this week against its main rivals. The newcomer is driven over 1,000 miles in SE TDI (74bhp) guise against the Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.6 TDCi, Renault Clio Dynamique 1.5 dCi 86 and the Mazda 2 Sport 1.6 D.

With all its rivals all-new models or at the very least revised in recent months, is it a walkover for the Polo? Not to spoil the overall verdict, we won’t spill the beans here, but we will say it wasn’t quite the walk in the park we were expecting…

To read the full group test buy the 9-15 September issue of Auto Express on sale at all good newsagents, or view online here.

[Picture: Auto Express]

Online-only magazine iMotor tests the new Polo against the Ford Fiesta, in its new issue out today. Threading the TDI version of the small VW through the streets of London, the interactive motoring publication also asks bystanders what their opinions are of the two cars.

You can watch the video road test and read the more detailed comments about the car, look through photos of the new Polo, as well as rating it or slating it by clicking here.

Ahead of a market launch in 2010, Volkswagen will once again show the new Polo BlueMotion at the IAA 2009 in Frankfurt from 15 to 27 September. Premiering what will be a production version of the new economy model (the previous incarnation was a concept), the new eco Polo will be on show with the latest versions of the Golf BlueMotion and Passat BlueMotion.

Calling the new models ‘the world’s most fuel-efficient cars in their classes’, VW is also showcasing a range of BlueMotion Technologies exhibits at their home expo, of which the Polo is a small part. The part it plays, though, isn’t quite so small. One of the major forces in the German maker’s economy army, it will build on the reputation of its predecessor and also set new benchmarks, such as the 85.6mpg fuel economy figure.

Economy: VW is staging world debuts of the latest BlueMotion models at the IAA Frankfurt 2009. Production version of the new Polo BlueMotion (at the back of the picture) will appear

Armed with a new 1.2-litre TDI engine producing 74bhp, it should be the most fuel-efficient five-seater in the world. Emissions are down to 87g/km of CO2 when compared with a regular new Polo TDI, and Volkswagen claim that it would cost a person driving the Polo BlueMotion the 545km route from Berlin to Frankfurt just 19 euros in fuel costs. With a theoretical range of 1,363kms (over 840 miles) from its 45-litre tank, that driver won’t be stopping for fuel until at least twice that distance has been covered. And, with a regenerative energy braking system and Stop-Start, the new Polo BlueMotion will be as much about technology as economy.

Top speed is 173km/h, and as the average German driver (according to the German Federal Bureau of Statistics) covers 11,000kms per year, then going on the figures above, the new Polo BlueMotion should only need filling up just eight times per year. Prices and exact specification for the UK market will follow shortly. In a Polo double debut at the Frankfurt event, Volkswagen will also be pulling the covers off the new three-door model at the same time, ahead of its market introduction in early 2010.