PoloDriver

Launched in March 2010, the Polo Vivo continues to dominate the South African passenger car market. Selling over 56,000 units in two years, it is the only locally-produced entry-level model on the market, and has been the top-selling car in South Africa for the past 18 months. Replacing the hugely popular Mk 1 Golf-based Citi Golf, the A0 segment Polo Vivo has both created jobs and a new supplier park near the Uitenhage factory in which it is built. Nearly 70% of Polo Vivo parts are sourced from local suppliers.

Government fleet buyers as well as rental companies list the Polo Vivo as their car of choice, due, in large part, to its ‘South Africaness’. ‘The success of Polo Vivo in the past two years has been overwhelming. Polo Vivo is a unique offering that we introduced two years ago with the aim of providing our customers with an affordable and a reliable product,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director, Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa.

‘The cornerstones of the Polo Vivo Brand are affordability, proven German product quality, safety, space and comfort. It represents excellent value for money without compromising on core product essentials that customers expect from Volkswagen. In short, Polo Vivo customers are getting an A-class car for the price of an A0 car, a difficult proposition to ignore in this heavily contested segment of the market. As if that were not enough, Polo Vivo also has the class-leading residual value in its segment in the used car market. This ensures that the cost of ownership over a three-year cycle makes Polo Vivo one of the cheapest cars on the South African market to currently own,’ added Glendinning.

The Polo Vivo is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R106,100 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R153,200 for the top 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo (9N3), built from 2005 to 2009. In the past year, Volkswagen South Africa has introduced additional exciting derivatives to the Polo Vivo range to broaden its appeal, including the sporty 3-door Polo Vivo GT (above).