Polo sedan debuts at Moscow International Automobile Salon 2010
Volkswagen premiered a number of new models at the Moscow International Automobile Salon 2010 when the doors opened yesterday. One of the star exhibits on the German giant’s stand is the latest notchback Polo, the sedan. It’s the first public viewing for the handsome saloon version of the new Polo, which, the company say, was ‘specially-designed for Russia’ (we’ll ignore the fact that it’s also on sale in India as the Vento, then). Tested in extreme weather conditions to cope with the harsh Russian winters, the car has a ‘cold climatic zone package’, and suspension adapted for badly-surfaced roads. The Polo sedan is based on the fifth-generation Polo hatchback launched in 2009, and is powered by a 1.6-litre 104bhp engine. Prices start at 399,000 rubles for the Trendline model. Manufactured locally in Kaluga, the Russian factory also produces the Golf, Jetta, Passat, Passat CC, Tiguan and Touareg.
The full and official Volkswagen Polo sedan press release from June 2010 and a gallery of pictures follows.
World premiere of the Polo Saloon in Moscow
A first: a Polo specially developed for the Russian market
Moderate pricing: quality and reliability for a wide circle of customers
Wolfsburg/Moscow, 02 June 2010
While advance sales began for the Polo produced in Kaluga, Russia, the world premiere took place before 200 high-ranking guests in Moscow today. For the first time in the history of the brand, a vehicle has been developed specially for the Russian market, bearing in mind its specific climate and street conditions.
Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Brand with responsibility for Development, says: ‘The new Polo Saloon does not only fulfil the highest standards of modern automotive engineering. The efficient technologies, outstanding active and passive safety and the traditional high quality of workmanship and materials are groundbreaking for this class. In conjunction with the timeless design, a level has been reached that is unprecedented in this segment and this market.’
Frank Wittemann, Head of the Volkswagen Brand in Russia: ‘The new Polo Saloon extends Volkswagen’s range of vehicles und builds a bridge from our bestsellers in Russia, the Passat and the Jetta, to the small familiy car segment. With it, an even greater number of friends of our brand can choose a vehicle according to their taste and possibilities. The new vehicle complies with the global quality standards of Volkswagen in every respect, while being very attractive in terms of price: The Polo Saloon is being offered at a price from just a bit over 10,000 euros and up.’
The new Polo Saloon is being built on a completely new assembly line at Volkswagen AG’s plant in Kaluga. The Volkswagen Polo Saloon is equipped with a new 1.6-litre petrol engine (77 kW/104 PS). It can be combined with a five-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic gearbox with sequential shift function (Tiptronic). Volkswagen is the first automobile manufacturer offering their Russian customers such an up-to-date automatic gearbox in this vehicle class.
A high level of safety is ensured already in the Trendline basic version — two airbags, head rests and three-point seat belts for all five passengers. From Comfortline and up, the Polo is equipped with ABS as standard. In the top Highline version, additional safety systems are integrated that are normally unavailable in this class — side air-bags and ESP, for instance.
The specific demands of Russian drivers and the climate and street conditions in Russia have both been carefully taken into account during the new Saloon’s development: long-term tests were conducted in different climate zones, and the street conditions in the most variegated regions in Russia were examined. The available petrol qualities were tested repeatedly as well. Thus the vehicle has been equipped with an up-to-date and reliable engine that is ideally suited to those operating conditions prevailing in Russia, a galvanised, non-corrosive body and a wheel suspension geared to bad roads. Particularly robust paints were used for the car’s paint job, and the chrome parts are also highly resistant to aggressive agents.
