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Volkswagen has launched volkswagen-classic.de, a new website for owners of older VWs. Aiming to offer an ‘exciting and fascinating mix of magazine and interactive community’, visitors to the focused portal will find a selection of unpublished photographs, brand new information and comprehensive facts on Volkswagen history and classic models from 1949 to 1999. All the historical Volkswagen activities will be found at volkswagen-classic.de, from events, car collections/tours and even original part sales. A central part of the new website is the official magazine of Volkswagen Classic, which will appear exclusively online. It offers exclusive stories and features articles about classic Volkswagens. In each issue of the magazine there will be a special theme – the star of the first issue is the Golf Cabriolet.

Each individual model also gets its own profile page, complete with detailed chronology, technical specifications and advertising history. The online community will offer a central online platform, where owners and friends of classic Volkswagens are offered numerous opportunities to engage in dialogue, exchange ideas, discuss, and to actively communicate with Volkswagen. Registered users can create a personal profile with which to network; brand and specific model clubs get their own website space to present and promote their vehicles and activities. Professional support is provided, too: the Volkswagen Classic online team, support staff and experts will ‘always be ready to answer discussion questions.’

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volkswagen-classic.de: Polo I profile page

volkswagen-classic.de: Polo I chronology

volkswagen-classic.de: Polo II GT G40

volkswagen-classic.de: front page

volkswagen-classic.de: Magazine

volkswagen-classic.de: Scirocco

Volkswagen is taking its special edition Style models on a nationwide tour of Germany, visiting more than 200 cities in the country. Starting in April 2011 and running until the autumn, the tour will highlight the company’s broad range of models to both retailers and potential customers. ‘With the Style Tour 2011, we invite visitors to experience the Volkswagen brand and experience the diversity of our attractive and environmentally friendly model range itself,’ said Werner Eichhorn, Head of Sales and Marketing (Germany), Volkswagen Passenger Cars. In addition to style, the models and the driver assistance systems will focus on VW’s environmental theme of ‘Think Blue.’

At the national roadshow, visitors can take a closer look at the Style special models, which include the Polo, Golf and Golf Plus. The tour kicked off on 8 April in Autostadt in Wolfsburg, where it will stay until 17 April. ‘We are pleased to present the Style special edition models to guests of Autostadt and Volkswagen employees here in Wolfsburg,’ said Christian Hammerich, Manager of Autostadt. In addition to the Style special models, the new Jetta and Eos will be shown, as will economical BlueMotion versions of the Sharan, Touran and Passat Variant. Drivers of a more sporting bent are offered the Golf GTI, Golf R and Scirocco.

In addition to short test drive appointments, Volkswagen will present the ‘Story of Style’, a selection of the company’s design milestones. In addition, there will be information and a world of ideas relating to sustainability and innovation at Volkswagen under the ‘Think Blue’ banner – how of make individual mobility safer and more comfortable, as well as films on driver assistance systems. Fuel saving tips will also be offered and VW will also inform visitors about its parking aid and new ‘Lane Assist’ lane departure technologies. The Polo Style is available from €14,075 and features a range of equipment including Toffee Brown metallic paint and 15-inch ‘Estrada’ alloy wheels.

Following a theme Volkswagen UK promoted for advertising the Lupo back in the early 2000s, this 30-second TV commercial for Volkswagen Australia uses the ‘Volkswagen, Condensed’ strapline to push the Polo. With two Aussie guys effortlessly condensing all their chatter about the car into such a small timeframe, it certainly gets the message across. The spot was created by agency DDB Sydney, who also did the ‘Word’ campaign we featured recently. The commercial originally aired for three weeks in November 2010, as a prelude to a focused campaign for the Polo GTI the following month, and is currently being run again and promoted on Volkswagen Australia’s Facebook and YouTube pages. Steve Wakelam and Grant McAloon, Group Creative Heads, DDB Sydney, said: ‘Rather than fighting against what could have been a long, dry list of product features we decided to turn them into our creative ideas and hopefully have a bit of fun along the way. More importantly we managed to get a Chicago song in there, a long term professional goal.’

‘The Volkswagen Polo. Volkswagen, Condensed.’ TV campaign credits
Agency: DDB Sydney
Executive Creative Director: Matt Eastwood
Creative Group Heads: Steve Wakelam and Grant McAloon
Agency Producer: Claire Seffrin
Business Management: Patrice Bougouin
Planning Director: Nick Andrews
Production House: Plaza Films
Director: Paul Middleditch
Producer: Peter Masterton
DOP: Daniel Ardilly
Post House: The Editors
Sound: Nylon Studios
Media Agency: Mediacom

[Source: Campaign Brief]

The firecracking GTI version of the fifth-generation Polo has been let loose on South African streets. The same as European and Australian versions, the latest performance Polo is powered by a 178bhp, 1.4-litre supercharged and turbocharged (‘twincharger’ in Volkswagen speak) engine, and scrabbles to 62mph in 6.9 seconds. Standard equipment includes a twin-clutch DSG gearbox with steering wheel paddles, 17-inch ‘Denver’ alloy wheels and a styling pack borrowed from the Golf GTI. Optional kit includes a panoramic sunroof (now sadly deleted from the UK options list). Prices of the four-door new Polo GTI start at R259,000. For more information, visit the Volkswagen South Africa website. The full Volkswagen South Africa press release and photo gallery follows.

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Now that the latest set of UK sales figures from the are in from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ (SMMT), the headline as far as we’re concerned is that the Polo is still a favourite among the UK car-buying public. In March 2011, 7634 Polos found new homes, making it a bigger seller in the UK than the Mini, a fact not reported that often. Overall, it sits one place higher at sixth in the year-to-date tallies. The top five sellers are the same in both the March and 2011-so-far lists, with the perennial Fiesta, Focus, Corsa and Astra – from Ford and Vaxuhall repectively – having little to fear from rivals. The Fiesta was once again the top seller in March, posting figures more than double of the Polo. It also took the crown for Q1, too, even with supermini volumes falling during March, although their market share edged up to 38.4%.

Demand for the new ‘11’ plate was just ahead of the SMMT’s forecast by 1.4%. Volumes in March were down 7.9% on last year, but with the 13.0% of 2010 scrappage-related volumes removed, the market was up 5.9%. ‘The UK saw 366,101 new cars registered in March, demonstrating sustained demand in what is traditionally the biggest month of the year,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. March 2011’s results also paint a more positive picture of the UK market as a whole. Registrations in Q1 were down 53,212 units or 8.7%, but at 558,336 units, were over 11,000 units ahead of industry expectations. The market is expected to decline further in Q2, before recovering in the second half of the year. Q1 also recorded the lowest ever average new car CO2 emissions, down 3.4% to 140.3g/km. The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for March 2011 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 19,676 (27,924, 1st)
2 Ford Focus: 14,370 (24,435, 2nd)
3 Vauxhall Corsa: 13,556 (20,536, 3rd)
4 Vauxhall Astra: 10,704 (17,250, 4th)
5 Volkswagen Golf: 10,282 (17,101, 5th)
6 Vauxhall Insignia: 7826 (11,904, 7th)
7 Volkswagen Polo: 7634 (12,214, 6th)
8 Peugeot 207: 7189 (10,335, 8th)
9 Mini: 7040
10 BMW 3 Series: 6103 (10,141, 10th)

(The 2011 best-seller absent from March’s sales figures is the Nissan Qashqai selling 9253 units in 10th place.)