PoloDriver

The best-selling Volkswagen Polo Vivo’s appeal now extends to commercial customers with the launch of the Polo Vivo Xpress. Like the Mk 2 Polo van of the 1980s, the Polo Vivo Xpress is, you’ve guessed it, basically a Polo light commercial. However unlike the panelled Polo of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Vivo Xpress has rear doors and windows, like the fifth-generation Polo-based Polo Van on sale in Denmark.

Created locally
The Polo Vivo Xpress was created locally by Volkswagen Group South Africa Chairman and Managing Director Thomas Schaefer, in response to requests from fleet owners for a small VW delivery vehicle. The van was put into production by the Engineering Division in Volkswagen South Africa’s Uitenhage factory.

The Polo Vivo Xpress has a 519kg payload and a loading capacity volume of 1,060 litres. Powered by a 1.4-litre 74bhp petrol engine and based on the entry-level Polo Vivo Conceptline, it looks little different to the standard car. Steel wheels earn cool points, while external pointers include the 15mm raised suspension and ‘Xpress’ badges.

2016 Volkswagen Polo Vivo Xpress (South Africa)

2016 Volkswagen Polo Vivo Xpress (South Africa)

2016 Volkswagen Polo Vivo Xpress (South Africa)

Mesh partitioner
Inside, there’s a mesh partitioner between passengers and cargo, as well as hard wood flooring in the main load area. Standard equipment includes remote central locking with alarm and air conditioning, while cruise control, CD player, a rough road package (heavy duty shock absorbers and underbody guard) and 14-inch alloy wheels are optional.

Volkswagen South Africa states that the Polo Vivo Xpress has been homologated as a N1 Commercial Vehicle which will allow VAT registered customers to claim back VAT. The small van is priced at R163,700 (VAT and emissions tax included).

POLO VIVO GTS
As well as the launch of the Xpress, Volkswagen has replaced the previous Polo Vivo GT derivative with the Polo Vivo GTS. Sadly, no Porsche-like GTS features are standard, but buyers do get a 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine. The Polo Vivo GTS also features a black-painted roof and mirrors, grey metallic 16-inch ‘Rivazza’ wheels, sports pedals, two-tone GTS body decals, and carpet mats with black piping and red stitching.

The Polo Vivo GTS is available in five colours: Pure White, Flash Red, Reflex Silver, Sunset Red and Pepper Gray. Prices start at R197,200 (VAT and emissions tax included).

2016 Volkswagen Polo Vivo GTS (South Africa)

2016 Volkswagen Polo Vivo GTS (South Africa)

2016 Volkswagen Polo Vivo GTS (South Africa)

The Polo Vivo was South Africa’s best-selling passenger car last year, with 31,384 units sold. Also the best-selling car in South Africa since it was launched in 2010, along wth the Polo Vivo hatchback, there is also a sedan version. Both cars are based on an improved variant of the 2002-2009 Polo sold in Europe.

After a disappointing start to the season, Jari-Matti Latvala staked his intent on the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) and put in a dominant drive to cross the finish line first at Rally Mexico. It was sigh of relief for the Finnish Volkswagen Polo R WRC driver and his co-driver Miikka Anttila: the pair suffered retirement in the season-opening Rally Monte-Carlo and setbacks during Rally Sweden which resulted in a 26th-place finish.

French Polo R WRC crew and reigning world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia once again put in a storming drive and did all they could to temper Latvala’s indomitable spirit. However, the pair had to relinquish the win this time around, coming home on the second step of the podium. Ogier and Ingrassia won the event in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Latvala and Anttila’s win meanwhile was their Rally Mexico first, and the 16th of the pair’s careers.

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Mexico: Latvala/Anttila

Huge challenges
Held around the city of León on 3-6 March, Rally Mexico temperatures can reach 30 °C and the event also has the season’s highest point at 2,746 metres above sea level, creating huge challenges for both drivers and their cars. It also has the longest stage: at 80km (49 miles), ‘Guanajuato’ tested both the endurance and the concentration of man and machine.

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In a similar story to January, the Polo stayed in the UK’s top ten best-sellers list for February 2016. The small Volkswagen recorded 1,585 sales last month, according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders (SMMT). So far, 4,883 Polos have been sold in the UK since the start of the year.

Once again, the Ford Fiesta was unstoppable. As it celebrates its fortieth birthday in 2016, the Ford supermini was again atop the SMMT table, with 4,507 sales in January. The evergreen Fiesta has sold an enormous 12,860 units so far in 2016. The SMMT stated that the new car market grew by 8.4 per cent in February, with a total of 83,395 cars registered.

The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during February 2016 and the year so far (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 4,507 (12,860, 1st)
2 Volkswagen Golf: 2,574 (6,387, 5th)
3 Nissan Qashqai: 2,486 (7,325, 2nd)
4 Vauxhall Corsa: 2,408 (7,211, 3rd)
5 Ford Focus: 2,369 (6,654, 4th)
6 Vauxhall Astra: 1,626 (4,811, 8th)
7 Audi A3: 1,619 (4,846, 7th)
8 Volkswagen Polo: 1,585 (4,883, 6th)
9 Kia Sportage: 1,521
10 Vauxhall Mokka: 1,506 (4,410, 10th)

(The 2016 top 10 best-selling car absent from last month’s sales figures is the ninth-placed Nissan Juke with 4,485 cars sold.)

At the start of this week’s Geneva motor show, Volkswagen unveiled a new model at the Swiss expo which leads a ‘broad offensive’ of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) from the German brand. The T-Cross Breeze (yes, we know, a silly name), the soft-top is an unexpected punch to launch, according to Head of Design Klaus Bischoff, ‘New Volkswagen’.

While the T-Cross Breeze solicited ‘copycat Range Rover Evoque Convertible’-type comments from the motoring press – and there’s no denying there is a similarity – what’s more important is that underneath the T-Cross Breeze is rumoured to be a version of the new ‘A0’ small car version of the Volkswagen Group’s ‘MQB’ platform.

2016 Volkswagen T-Cross Breeze

2016 Volkswagen T-Cross Breeze

2016 Volkswagen T-Cross Breeze

2016 Volkswagen T-Cross Breeze

2016 Volkswagen T-Cross Breeze

2016 Volkswagen T-Cross Breeze

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A new Polo special edition will be launched at the Geneva motor show this week. A product of Volkswagen and audio specialist company Beats Audio, the main draw of the Polo Beats is its 300W, seven-speaker audio system, which VW promises will be ‘state-of-the-art’.

Eight-channel amplifier
Along with a similar version of the new Up (also to be launched in Switzerland), the Polo Beats ‘premium’ sound system also features an eight-channel amplifier and a digital signal processor (DSP, not to be confused with the Electronic Stability Programme ‘ESP’ acronym).

The seven ‘high-end’ speakers are distributed around the Polo Beats’ cabin: there are two tweeters in the A-pillars, two woofers in the front door panels, two broadband speakers in the rear, in addition to a sub-woofer which sits neatly in the spare wheel well in the luggage area.

2016 Volkswagen Polo Beats

2016 Volkswagen Polo Beats

2016 Volkswagen Polo Beats

Special edition status
Elsewhere in the cabin, there are unique ‘Beats’ seats and door panels, coloured seat belts and a leather-trimmed steering wheel. Externally, the Polo Beats sounds out its special edition status by way of 16-inch ‘Syenit’ alloy wheels, coloured door mirrors and a gloss black front grille.

At the time of writing, there are no confirmed details on price and availability for the Polo Beats. Another Polo-based Geneva motor show debut is expected to come in the form of the ‘T-Cross’ concept, a small SUV-style car, which will preview a new member of the 2018 sixth-generation Polo family.