LESS than five years since the launch of the current Polo model, Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) celebrated the half-million mark of this vehicle being built in Kariega.
The 500 000th unit of the current Polo recently rolled off the production line at the Kariega plant. This milestone follows about four-and-a-half years after the launch of the current Polo in January 2018, and a few months after the facelifted Polo was introduced to the local market at the start of 2022.
This special vehicle, a white left-hand-drive GTI which will be exported to France, also marked the 4 202 260th vehicle built at the Kariega plant to date – which means the current Polo model accounts for almost 12 percent of all vehicles built here since 1948.
Of the 500 000 Polo units, 90 004 were built for the local market and 409 996 were destined for export markets. Included in this is 77 397 units of the facelifted Polo.
This milestone follows hot on the heels of VWSA celebrating the 1-millionth Polo built for export in May this year. VWSA currently exports the Polo built in Kariega to 38 countries, building this vehicle for all right-hand-drive markets and supplementing production for left-hand-drive markets. The Kariega plant is also the sole manufacturer worldwide of the Polo GTI.
“As VWSA and one of only two plants worldwide building this vehicle, we are proud to achieve the half-million mark,” said Ulrich Schwabe, Production Director at VWSA. “Despite difficult circumstances in the industry and the global community, the VWSA family has persevered to bring us this milestone. Just as we faced the challenges as a team, we will celebrate this achievement – and many more to follow – as a team.”
Passenger and commercial vehicle sales soar in June
In more good news, Volkswagen continues to be one of South Africa’s leading passenger car brands with 30 581 vehicles sold in the first six months of 2022.
“Volkswagen Passenger Cars sold 28 015 vehicles from January to June while Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles sold 2 566 units in the same period. This gives Volkswagen a 16.3 percent share in the passenger car market in the first six months of this year,” says Steffen Knapp, Head of Volkswagen Passenger Cars.
“We had a very rough first quarter due to supply and political challenges which affected stock availability, but we are determined defend our dominance of the passenger car market in South Africa. June was a fantastic month for the Volkswagen brand.
“Not only did we post the best dealer channel sales since October 2021, we also achieved a 16.4 percent share in the passenger car market. The T-Cross continues to dominate the A0 SUV segment and our recently launched Taigo also sold 343 units in June 2022. The Polo Vivo and Polo have returned to their dominant positions in the A0 Hatch segment with 1 619 and 1 461 units sold respectively last month,” adds Knapp.
Volkswagen Passenger Cars sold 28 015 units from January to June this year with a market share of 15.9 percent. The best-selling derivative was the Polo Vivo with 9 469 units sold in the same period.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles sold 2 566 units in the first six months of 2022. The Amarok double cab was the best-selling derivative with 1 052 units sold in the first half of the year. In June 2022, the Amarok helped Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to improve their market share to 4.4 percent.
“We are determined to have a strong second half of the year which will be supported by the new Taigo sales which will ramp-up from July as well as launches of the new T-Roc, all-new Polo Sedan, all- new Tiguan R and the new Golf 8 R,” concluded Knapp.
