PoloDriver

Volkswagen South Africa has announced launched a revised version of the Polo Sedan. Now offered with a 3-year/45,000km service plan as standard, the four-door notchback Polo gets the same updated face as the technically and visually-similar Indian-market Vento and Polo Sedan sold in Russia.

Redesigned exterior elements
On the outside, redesigned lighting elements as well as front and rear bumpers mark out the new model. Higher-specification and more upmarket Comfortline variants also receive chrome accents on the door handles, lower front grille, boot lid and rear bumper.

Trendline versions gain colour-coded door mirror caps and door handles, while all versions now gain indicator tuning signals in the mirrors themselves. Four new colours – Carbon Steel Metallic, Night Blue Metallic, Titanium Beige Metallic and Toffee Brown Metallic – have also been added to the Polo Sedan’s colour palette.

Rear park distance control
Inside, new seat trims, a flat-bottomed multifunction steering wheel and new radios play starring roles. Extra kit now includes optional features such as rear park distance control, while Comfortline models can be specified with a rain sensor with auto-dimming interior mirror and are fitted with cruise control as standard.

In a move which again echoes the revised Vento, the previous 77kW 1.6-litre TDI has been replaced with a 1.5-litre version with the same power. The previous 63kW 1.4-litre and 77kW petrol engines are the same as before. The new Polo Sedan also comes with 3-year/120,000km and 12-year anti-corrosion warranties. Volkswagen South Africa quotes service intervals of 15,000km.

For more details on the new Polo Sedan for South Africa, visit www.vw.co.za.

2015 VOLKSWAGEN POLO SEDAN (ZA) PRICES
1.4-litre 63kW (84bhp) Trendline: R189,900
1.4-litre 63kW (84bhp) Comfortline: R207,900
1.6-litre 77kW (103bhp) Trendline: R204,900
1.6-litre 77kW (103bhp) Comfortline: R219,900
1.6-litre 77kW (103bhp) Comfortline Tiptronic: R234,900
1.5-litre TDI 77kW (103bhp) Comfortline: R247,200

(All quoted prices include VAT and CO2 emissions tax.)

In addition to the huge 11 million cars confirmed so far for recall following Volkswagen’s global ‘dieselgate’ ‘emission-cheating’ software fiasco, the company confirmed today that the 1.2-litre TDI ‘EA111’ engine can also be added to the blacklisted ‘EA189’ series of 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre TDI units.

Found in versions of the fifth-generation Polo ‘6R’ built from 2009-2014 – the environmentally-aimed BlueMotion is one of particular note – in the UK, Europe and selected global markets, the three-cylinder 1.2 TDI was also fitted to certain SEAT Ibiza, Skoda Fabia and Roomster models. Like the well-documented EA189 family, it features software to reduce emission levels under certain test conditions.

Remedial work
As with other models so affected, Polos with the 1.2-litre TDI engine will be recalled in January, with the timeframe for the remedial work expected to take up to a year. Concerned Polo owners in the UK can check if their cars are affected by visiting the online Volkswagen Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) checker. In the UK, the 74bhp 1.2-litre TDI was fitted to 91g/km BlueMotion and 102g/km ‘Match’ models.

The full list of affected Volkswagen Group (Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles) cars can be found here. VW has admitted that cars fitted the Euro 5 emission standard EA189 range of engines are fitted with what the motor industry is calling a ‘defeat device’ which gives lower NOx (nitrogen oxide) emission levels under test conditions.

Volkswagen India has announced details of limited edition versions of its popular Polo and Vento (Polo hatchback) models. The extra features are purely visual: no changes have been made to the existing and well-proven petrol and diesel mechanical set-ups.

Polo Exquisite
The Polo Highline provides the basis for the Polo Exquisite, in 1.2-litre TSI and 1.5-litre TDI forms. Available to order now, special exterior features include a black roof foil, carbonfibre-look caps on the electrically-foldable mirrors, coloured door and rear hatchback trim, as well as unique scuff plates.

Inside, a carbonfibre-look centre console adds a sporty touch, while uniquely-enbossed seat covers add a luxurious feel. In addition, there are also tailored floor mats, cruise control and detachable made-to-fit blinds for the rear windows. The Polo Exquisite is available at no extra cost over the Highline model.

Michael Mayer, Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, said: ‘We are very excited to present India’s favorite hatchback in its new avatar, the Polo Exquisite. This new limited edition Polo which effortlessly boasts of stunning features further cements its place as the sporty, dynamic and a powerful hatch in the hearts of its owners.’

Vento Highline Plus
The Vento Highline Plus costs Rs 29,000 over the 1.6-litre MPI and 1.5-litre TDI Highline models it is based on. Extra kit includes a Blaupunkt music system with a 7.0-inch touchscreen-enabled navigation system and an SD card slot. The Vento Highline Plus features the same exterior and interior cosmetic upgrades as the Polo Exquisite hatchback.

For more details on the limited edition Polo Exquisite and Vento Highline Plus models, visit the Volkswagen India website.

In a repeat of 2014, Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila took victory at the 2015 Rally France, held on the island of Corsica from 1 to 4 October. Last year the Finnish pair and their Polo R WRC won the French event, staged in the Alsace region of the country. M-Sport’s Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt were second, while Volkswagen Motorsport team-mates Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene rounded out the podium.

Notable by their absence, soon-to-be-confirmed* 2015 world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished the event in 15th place, after a brace of maladies affecting Polo R WRC #1. A slow puncture on day one lost the French duo 1 minute and 40 seconds and they were then handed a 10-minute penalty for changing the gearbox outside of a regular service. The pair started the Corsican event again under under Rally 2 regulations.

Adverse weather conditions
Adverse weather conditions – which included heavy rainfall and landslides – led to the cancellation of two of the nine 2015 Rally France stages. That didn’t stop Latvala, though, who, along with Anttila, are only the second Finnish crew to win an event on the Mediterranean island after Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki took the spoils in 1983 and 1984.

An elated Latvala said: ‘I am struggling to put it all into words. It is a fantastic feeling to win here on Corsica. The conditions were not easy again today, as we were constantly switching between dry and damp sections. And my lead over Elfyn Evans was not exactly what you would call comfortable.

‘Despite this, I wanted to avoid taking too many risks, to extend my lead in a controlled and cool manner, and to wrap up the win. I did exactly that. I would like to dedicate my victory to my idol Henri Toivonen, who lost his life in Corsica. That is another reason why today is such a special day for me.’

A second win on asphalt
The Finns’ top podium spot marks the pair’s second win on asphalt (not a rallying Finns’ traditional winning surface), their 15th in total and eighth in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC. The win also bolsters Latvala’s second place standing in the overall drivers’ points table and makes it more difficult for third-placed Volkswagen driver Mikkelsen to gain ground on the 30 year-old.

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As the worldwide emissions issue currently has Volkswagen in its grip, the Indian arm of the German giant has put a stop on local Polo sales and is recalling 389 units of the car due to a handbrake defect affecting cable retention levers in the rear brake lines. Volkswagen Passenger Cars India is keen to stress that this latest technical issue is not related to the EA189 ‘Dieselgate’ problems that are engulfing its German parent company.

Temporarily suspended
Sources state that Indian Volkswagen retailers have received a letter asking that orders and deliveries be temporarily suspended, with 389 cars from a particular September 2015 production period affected.

Cars built outside of this period are reportedly fine and can be delivered as usual. Reports state that the ‘handbrake would lose effectiveness in certain conditions, due to a possible breakage of cable retention levers’.

Owners of the cars delivered from the defective batch will be contacted by Volkswagen retailers, and the free repair is reported to take around an hour to fix. Halted sales of affected cars will begin again once potentially defective vehicles have been remedied.

An issued Volkswagen India statement says: ‘In the context of a voluntary safety measure, Volkswagen Passenger Cars in India is recalling 389 Polo cars from a single batch of production from the month of September 2015 for inspection and preventive repair of the handbrake mechanism. The Quality Assurance department of Volkswagen Passenger Cars India has determined that under certain conditions, the handbrake mechanism would lose effectiveness.

‘Inspection and preventative repair’
‘The analysis performed by Volkswagen has shown that a batch of handbrake cable retention levers in the rear brake liner might break under certain conditions. Volkswagen has already identified the cars and has published the repair instructions to the service organisation in India.

‘Customers who own the identified vehicles will be actively contacted by the Volkswagen retailers to come for an inspection and preventive repair. This operation will start with immediate effect. The activity at the workshop will require approximately one hour and will be carried out at no cost to the customer.

‘The deliveries of the identified Polo cars in stock which had been put on hold will be resumed as and when the inspection and preventive repair of each car is completed. Volkswagen further confirms that deliveries for the non-impacted Polo range continues as schedule and would like to clarify that the temporary hold on deliveries is not related to the ongoing EA189 diesel engine topic’.

Only hatchback models
The handbrake issue currently seems to affect only the hatchback models of the small Volkswagen: the Vento saloon version and Skoda Rapid which are also locally built at the company’s factory in Pune are being delivered in the normal way. Polo hatchbacks built in India are powered by either a 1.2-litre TSI petrol engine or a 1.5-litre TDI unit.