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The Polo continues to endear itself to new car buyers in 2012, according to the latest batch of sales figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). In January, it sold 2898 examples, a figure up on December’s tally, meaning it retains its sixth place in the UK bestsellers chart. Its larger stablemate, the Golf, was three places higher selling 3992 vehicles, while the reigning champion, the Ford Fiesta once again took the top slot, with 7824 units finding homes. Continuing the trend from 2011, the supermini segment once again took four of the top 10 positions, and showed the largest rise of volumes last month.

Overall, the SMMT states, UK new car registrations rose by 0.03% or 42 units in January 2012 to 128,853 units. The total was boosted by the private market, up 2.7% on January 2011 and further growth in the fleet sector. ‘The January new car market held firm with 128,853 registrations, up on January 2011, a welcome sign of stability in uncertain economic times,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. ‘2012 is set to be an exciting year with record numbers of new models coming to market filled with innovative technology that will save the motorist fuel, enhance comfort and further increase levels of safety and security.’ The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for January 2012 (and therefore the year so far) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 7824
2 Ford Focus: 5643
3 Volkswagen Golf: 3992
4 Vauxhall Corsa: 3624
5 Vauxhall Astra: 3340
6 Volkswagen Polo: 2898
7 Vauxhall Insignia: 2719
8 Nissan Qashqai: 2627
9 Audi A3: 2380
10 Peugeot 207: 2364

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Volkswagen Group South Africa has made a strong start to 2012, as the Polo Vivo and Polo took the country’s top two positions in the passenger car sales chart for January. From a total of 35,428 vehicles, the budget Polo Vivo sold 2964 units, while the fifth-generation Polo 6R swept up 2644 sales, an astonishing combined figure of 15.3% of the passenger car market. ‘Total vehicle sales of 9803 in January saw Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) top the total market in the first month of the year – with a 21.3% market share. Its market share in the passenger vehicle category was even more pleasing, at 25.5% with sales of 9003,’ said VWSA Sales and Marketing Director, Mike Glendinning.

The Polo Vivo was launched in March 2010 as an entry-level model for the South African market, replacing the Series 1 Golf-based CitiGolf, and is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 104bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R104,065 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R156,220 for the top 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the 2011 Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo (9N3), built from 2005 to 2009. The fifth-generation Polo (6R) is available as both a three and five-door hatchback in addition to the traditional four-door Polo Sedan.

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The Polo Vivo was once again South Africa’s top-selling passenger car in December 2011, according to figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). In three and five-door hatchback and four-door sedan (saloon) configurations, the Vivo claimed the sales top spot with a total of 3060 sales. Last month also saw the the fifth-generation Polo record impressive figures, too, once again in second place, with 2114 units. The Polo 6R was also the biggest export model for Volkswagen South Africa. The sole producer of right-hand drive current generation standard and CrossPolo-trimmed models, its state-of-the-art Uitenhage factory exported 2372 units overseas last month.

The Polo Vivo was launched in March 2010 as an entry-level model for the South African market, replacing the Series 1 Golf-based CitiGolf, and is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 104bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R104,065 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R156,220 for the top 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the 2011 Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo (9N3), built from 2005 to 2009. The new fifth-generation Polo (6R) is also available as both a three and five-door hatchback in addition to the traditional four-door Polo Sedan.

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The Polo’s popularity was unwavering during December 2011, as it sold 2742 units, making it once again the UK’s sixth best-selling car according to the last set of figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The UK industry body also released 2011’s overall sales figures this morning, and the Polo was nothing but consistent, ending the year in seventh place in the country’s top 10 best-selling cars chart, with 45,992 cars finding homes. It was a similar but more successful story for the Ford Fiesta; Uncle Henry’s now global supermini sold 5411 units in December, taking the top spot. It ended the year in similar style, selling 96,112 cars, and top of the UK sales chart.

The supermini segment remains the largest in the UK, with a market share almost unchanged on 2010 at 36.3%, while new car demand totalled 1,941,253 units in 2011, down 4.4% on 2010, but ahead of the 1.92 million forecast. Registrations in December 2011 fell by 3.7% to 119,188 units and the market was down 1.8% in quarter four, while diesel and alternatively-fuelled cars both took record market shares over the year. The SMMT also says that average new car CO2 emissions fell to a new low of 138.1g/km in 2011, down 4.2% on the 2010 level, and the Volkswagen Golf was the best-selling diesel model.

‘2011 proved to be a challenging year for the UK motor industry. Total new car registrations were slightly ahead of industry expectations at 1.94 million units, still down 4.4% on 2010,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. ‘Weak economic growth will make trading conditions tough in 2012, but record numbers of new and updated models, significantly improved fuel efficiency and exciting new technologies will help to encourage consumers into showrooms. Business and consumer confidence will be the key to a successful year, so it will be important that government delivers on its growth strategy and helps to resolve instability in the Euro Zone.’ The top 10 best-selling cars in the UK for December 2011 and for the year overall (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 5411 (96,112, 1st)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 5258 (77,751, 3rd)
3 Vauxhall Astra: 4856 (62,575, 5th)
4 Ford Focus: 4047 (81,832, 2nd)
5 Volkswagen Golf: 4031 (63,688, 4th)
6 Volkswagen Polo: 2742 (45,992, 7th)
7 Mini: 2706 (35,845, 10th)
8 Nissan Qashqai: 2580 (39,406, 9th)
9 Vauxhall Insignia: 2494 (46,264, 6th)
10 Hyundai i10: 2411

(The 2011 top 10 best-seller absent from December’s sales figures, is the BMW 3 Series selling 42,471 units in eighth place.)

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The Polo 6R ended 2011 with as much success as it enjoyed in both 2009 and 2010. European sales were up by 1.2 per cent in October 2011 (compared to same month the year before) and it ended the year by being the second best-selling car in Europe, behind its bigger brother, the Golf. The figures – released by industry body Jato on 20 December – speak for themselves. The Golf’s 2011 European sales tally was 449,882, while 329,891 Polos found new homes. Volkswagen’s Passat finished seventh, making the German manufacturer Europe’s most popular in 2011, with 1,550,036 cars sold. Ford was second, its popular Fiesta and Focus models accounting for almost 600,000 new car sales alone. The Polo (including its Vento saloon variant) was a similar success story in India last year, with Volkswagen reporting sales of 74,305 units for the January–December 2011 period.

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