South African star: Volkswagen Polo rides high in registration charts
The Volkswagen Polo was the most popular car in South Africa during February 2018, according to figures from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). The launch of the brand new sixth-generation Polo helped bolster registrations to 2,847 units.
A total of 6,247 outgoing and new Polos were also exported from Volkswagen South Africa’s Uitenhage factory. The traditional South African best-seller, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo – based on the fourth-generation European Polo – was replaced by a new version last month, too, so registrations were down to 2,044 units. But, with the new-generation Vivo being a pared-down version of the outgoing fifth-generation model, you can expect those totals to rise once more.
Staying in South Africa, the latest Polo has claimed Car magazine’s ‘Top 12 Best Buys 2018 – Small Hatchback’ award, with the Polo Vivo and Mazda 2 as runners-up. Other contenders included the Kia Rio, Renault Clio, and Suzuki Baleno. Volkswagen South Africa also scooped the ‘Top 12 Best Buys 2018 – Company of the Year’ award.
The sixth-generation Polo has also collected the Auto Motor und Sport ‘Best Cars 2018 – Sub-Compact Cars’ gong, voted for by readers of the magazine. Over 33 per cent of the category vote went to the small VW. Other Volkswagen winners were the latest versions of the Up and Golf, taking the ‘Best Cars 2018 – Mini Cars’ and ‘Best Cars 2018 – Compact Cars’ category victories respectively. A total of 378 models in eleven categories were on the nominations list to be voted the best cars of 2018.
