Production of the new Polo recently commenced at Volkswagen’s manufacturing plant in Kariega (formerly known as Uitenhage).
The Volkswagen manufacturing plant is currently operating on a three-shift pattern and building the new Polo (including the Polo GTI) for local and international markets.
The first consignment of new Polos left the Volkswagen manufacturing plant in the last week of August 2021. The vehicles will be shipped to overseas markets from the Gqeberha harbour.
The Volkswagen Polo is currently manufactured in Brazil, China, Spain and South Africa. The Polos built in Kariega are exported to all right-hand-drive markets worldwide and Volkswagen also supplements production for left-hand-drive markets. Kariega is also the sole manufacturer of the Polo GTI.
The Volkswagen Polo was first launched in South Africa in October 1996 and has continued to be a sales success over the past 25 years.
Since the sixth generation Volkswagen Polo was launched in the local market in January 2018, over 400 000 units have been manufactured in Kariega, with more than 326 000 units (over 80% of the total volume) being exported to international markets. In the three years since the sixth generation of the hatchback was launched in the local market, it has sold a total of 73 439 units.
“The Volkswagen Polo is the second best-selling passenger vehicle in South Africa (behind the Polo Vivo) and an important derivative for our brand. In 2021 alone, we have sold over 10 000 Polos in the local market giving Volkswagen a share of 21.8% in the A0 Hatch segment,” said Steffen Knapp, Head of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand.
The new Volkswagen Polo will retail from Volkswagen Dealers in the first quarter of 2022.
