PoloDriver

Once again the Polo proved popular for Volkswagen UK as it appeared in the country’s top 10 best-selling cars according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The figures for May 2014 show the Polo in eighth place with 3607 new cars finding homes. While not a rise, the small Volkswagen holds firm its position, appearing in the same place in the table for April. Once again, the Ford Fiesta was the best-selling car in the UK. It was good news for another Volkswagen model, too: the Golf sat in second place with 7134 examples sold.

The SMMT states that UK registrations rose 7.7 per cent to 194,032 units, the most in the month since 2004. The increase sees UK registrations pass the one million mark for 2014 so far. May 2014‘s uplift in sales also drives the UK new car market to 27 consecutive months of growth, breaking a record set in the late 1980s. The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during May 2014 and the year so far (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 9450 (58,940, 1st)
2 Volkswagen Golf: 7134 (31,596, 4th)
3 Vauxhall Corsa: 6536 (34,324, 3rd)
4 Ford Focus: 5824: 37,355, 2nd)
5 Vauxhall Astra: 5035 (26,062, 5th)
6 Nissan Qashqai: 4144 (20,834, 6th)
7 Audi A3: 3886 (19,223, 8th)
8 Volkswagen Polo: 3607 (20,687, 7th)
9 Fiat 500: 2896 (17,509, 9th)
10 Vauxhall Mokka: 2801

(The 2014 top 10 best-selling car absent from last month’s sales figures is the BMW 3 Series with 16,246 units sold.)

In related news, motors.co.uk has recently announced the UK’s most popular used cars for April 2014. The Polo rounded out the top 10, with 2427 used examples changing hands, while the Golf was five places higher. In a refection of the new car sales charts, the Ford Fiesta was the best-selling used car according to the car trading website. Volkswagen was the third most popular brand.

The Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2014 got off to a thrilling start on 31 May-1 June at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Singh Matharoo won the opening race ahead of Anshul Manoj Shah and Lee Keshav Gupta – Karminder Pal Singh originally crossed the line in first position but was later given a penalty for having overtaken Shah under yellow flags.

An eventful start saw pole position winner Karthik Tharani Singh colliding with Shah at the beginning of lap one. The red flags were brought out, and although Shah could restart the race, Singh was unable to, due to the amount of damage his Polo TSI racer sustained. Gupta held the lead ahead of Shah, and Karminder Singh moved up into fourth position on lap four.

Shah continued to put pressure on race leader Gupta, and on lap nine made his move. Both cars touched, giving Shah the lead and demoting Gupta to fourth. Karminder Singh took advantage, attacking Shah, taking the lead at the start of lap 10. But his lead was short-lived.

While he crossed the line first, a post-race investigation saw him penalised for overtaking Shah on yellow flags. This resulted in a 30-second penalty, demoting him to 10th place.

Matharoo, meanwhile, who started in ninth position, was thrilled to inherit the victory and take the early lead in the championship. ‘It is not the best way to take the win but after a tough qualifying session I am very happy to win the race.

‘To start ninth on the grid and then win the very first race of the season is an exhilarating feeling. After an average performance in the qualifying, I am delighted to have been able to put in 100 per cent in the race and having won it!’ he commented.

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Thomas, a rally driver as well as a circuit racer, started in pole position, with Matharoo in eighth. Thomas started well, holding onto his lead, even after a safety car incident, with Reddy in second place.

Matharoo worked his way up the field, passing Reddy for second position. Spending five laps ion the tail of Thomas, he couldn’t find a way through, and ended the race on the second step of the podium. Reddy kept up the pace and came home third.

‘I just joined Volkswagen Polo R-Cup to learn. This round has been tough, my fellow drivers have been really good, but starting on pole gave me the advantage,’ he commented after his win.

Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, was happy to start the season in such an exciting manner. He said: ‘This is a very nice way for me to start here as the new Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India.

‘My team has been excellent since the beginning of the season and have worked hard behind the scenes. Our focus this year has been to invest in drivers and their development. What remains constant though is our endeavour of grooming of young racing talent in India from grass roots level.

‘With the inclusion of a mid-season test drive and a mid-season fitness camp we strive to increase drivers’ development.’

Volkswagen Motorsport India runs the Volkswagen Polo R-Cup India 2014 series in conjunction with JK Tyres. The field of young largely Indian racers drive identical and centrally-prepared 1.4-litre TSI-engined, 178bhp Polo R-Cup cars.

JK TYRE VOLKSWAGEN POLO R CUP 2014,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Angad Singh Matharoo, 54
2 Bonnie Thomas, 43
3 Anindith Reddy, 35
4 Anshul Manoj Shah, 34
5 Lee Keshav Gupta, 33

The recent Taman Rally saw Alexey Ignatov and his co-driver Alina Kondratyeva score their third win in as many events in the 2014 Volkswagen Polo Cup Russia calendar. The event saw 11 teams compete in Polo rally cars against the clock. On the first day, Ignatov and Arkadiy Bogomolov fought duels over 81 kilometres and six Special Stages.

However, Bogomolov, who led at the halfway point of the event, skidded off the road on day two to leave the way free for Ignatov. Rounding out the podium’s overall results on the final day was Vadim Leluh who was second, while Vladimir Melnikov finished the event in third place. Both Polo hatchback and saloon (Polo Sedan) versions of Volkswagen’s globally-marketed small car are used in the series.

‘Drive Confident’. That’s just one of the slogans Volkswagen has decided upon as the lynchpin of the New Polo advertising campaign. An international launch campaign has been unveiled under the ‘Reassuringly safe. Calming innovative.’ banner and sees advertising materials focus on the New Polo’s extensive safety features and technology.

The car boasts many class firsts for safety, and so the TV and press advertisements focus on features such as the Front Assist monitoring system with City Emergency Braking function, ACC automatic distance control, as well as the new and innovative LED headlights. The campaign was launched in Germany on 16 April and will see a roll-out across Europe. Formats will include print and web media, as well as TV spots and ‘web specials’ such as microsites.

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The TV campaign meanwhile was created by DDB Team Blue and DDB Amsterdam and features a new composition of Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queen. Showing drivers with animated and nervous passengers, the message is that the New Polo does a lot of the driving safety work for you, leaving passengers much calmer. Another features the MirrorLink function which enables control of a smartphone through the New Polo’s new infotainment system.

The star of the New Polo campaign is the limited edition Polo Fresh model, available for one year after the refreshed car’s introduction, and available in the UK as the SE Design model. The example used in the campaign has LED headlights, panoramic sunroof, and is painted in the eye-catching ‘Cornflower Blue’ colour, presumably to catch younger drivers’ attention (it’s also a great shade).

The New Polo is already on sale in mainland Europe, with UK deliveries starting in July. Priced at £11,100 for the 1.0 S, the range rises through S A/C, SE, SE Design and SEL, and tops off with the sporty yet frugal BlueGT featuring cylinder deactivation technology. BlueMotion and GTI models will follow later in the year. Visit our extensive New Polo pages for more information.

The second round of the new 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship visited the home of the sport in the UK last weekend. Over 37 rallycross 600bhp Supercars visited Lydden Hill for the World RX of Great Britain round of the series.

Marklund Motorsport Polo RX drivers Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen and Tanner Foust finished fourth and fifth respectively in the exciting Supercar final, while Anton Marklund completed the semi-final in fourth place.

Heikkinen started the final from pole position after going fastest in the semi-final race. The Finn experienced power problems with his Polo, though, and had to settle for fourth place behind Ford Fiesta ST RX driver Andreas Bakkerud, who went on to emerge victorious overall at the 1.4-kilometre long British circuit.

Heikinnen started the final day of the meeting third overall and was fastest in his third heat. In his fourth heat he suffered a puncture on the penultimate lap, which out him in 26th place. But, despite the setbacks, the 23 year-old finished third after the heats and won his semi-final by waiting until the final lap to take his ‘joker’ lap.

‘I had a good start in my semi and my pace was good all the way. Petter Solberg and Andreas Bakkerud made their joker lap in the beginning but I waited until my last lap and kept ahead of them. My start in the final wasn’t perfect and I got stuck behind Robin Larsson’s Audi A1.

‘Then my engine started to lose power for some reason and I finished fourth. It’s obviously not the result I wanted after being fastest in the semi-final. But we are in a good position in the championship and ready for the next round,’ said Heikkinen.

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