Volkswagen had actually decided to leave the small petrol-powered Polo in the grave. But now the car brand has changed its mind.
Volkswagen would phase out the classic Polo model in Europe as late as September. Originally, the plan was to replace the Polo with the upcoming electric ID.2.
But the German car brand has now changed course. The background for this decision is, among other things, the desire to avoid a repeat of the situation Ford is in after removing several of their classic models from the market. Blue. Fiesta.
Production of the Polo was stopped in September at Volkswagen's factory in Pamplona, Spain. It went completely according to plan and as part of Volkswagen's strategy to prepare for a future with stricter EU emissions requirements.
But now Volkswagen's head of development, Kai Grünitz, confirms that an updated version of the Polo is on the way. The announcement came in connection with the Los Angeles Auto Show.
That's what Autocar writes.
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And this suggests that the model will play an important role in the brand's transition period towards a more electrified car fleet.
The current generation of the Volkswagen Polo was introduced in 2017 and received a minor facelift in 2021.
However, the upcoming version, which is expected to be launched next year, is likely to include technological improvements to meet the new emissions requirements.
It is expected that the Polo will be available as a mild hybrid with petrol engines such as 1.0 TSI and 1.5 TSI petrol engines, so that the model can meet the EU's new limit value of 93.6 grams of CO2 per litre. kilometer.
The fact that Volkswagen is resuming work on the Polo stands in stark contrast to Ford's decision to phase out models such as the Fiesta and Focus without having sufficiently attractive electric cars ready as replacements.
Ford's choice has resulted in significant challenges for Ford in Europe, where customers have not welcomed the newer electric models such as Capri and Explorer. In fact, Ford is forced to throttle down production because they can't find enough customers.
Whether the updated Polo will also be launched in markets such as Denmark, where the current model has not yet been removed, is unknown.
It will likely depend on how the facelifted version fares in other European markets. So far, it is clear that Volkswagen continues to see an idea in betting on the compact gasoline-powered model for 40 years.
