Knowing Volkswagen as we do, we reckon the German giant would swap all of the awards garnered by the Polo in Australia for some extra sales.
Good as the Polo is, and even though it’s beating its sales performance last year by almost two-to-one, the fact is by the end of October, the competent compact had racked-up just 2,060 sales to hold a miniscule 1.8 per cent of the light car market segment. We’re sure any day soon we’ll be able to ask Volkswagen Group Australia chief Anke Koeckler what she has in mind to improve sales of the Polo.
In the meantime, Volkswagen has just boosted the Polo lineup with the return of the sporty GTI variant, priced at $27,790 for the three-door and $28,990 for the five-door. Both are powered by Volkswagen’s 1.4-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine employing supercharger and turbocharger to deliver 132kW/250Nm and driving the front wheels via Volkswagen’s seven-speed DSG automatic transmission.
Volkswagen says this high-tech combo provides zero to 100km/h in just 6.9 seconds, while returning fuel consumption as low as 6.1l/100kms and emissions of just 142g/km – making this the cleanest and most fuel-efficient Volkswagen GTI.
As usual with European compacts, safety features are state-of-the-art, the Polo GTI coming standard with electronic stability control, differential lock, hill start assist and six airbags.
The Polo GTI can be identified externally by its 17-inch alloy wheels, black honeycomb front grille with red trim, fender flairs and rear aero kit comprising a diffuser and roof spoiler. Inside is the usual Volkswagen GTI kit – leather-wrapped steering wheel and tartan pattern sports seats.
