Production of the facelifted Polo only commenced in the middle of August of 2021 which means that almost 100 000 of the models have been produced over the year period.
The specific model to bear the milestone number is a white left-hand-drive Polo GTI destined for the German market. In numbers, the model which rolled off of the production line last week marked the 74 688th Polo built this year. Of the 100 000 vehicles, 88 163 Polos were exported to 38 countries with the remaining 11 837 Polos delivered to the South African market.
Ulrich Schwabe, Production Director at VWSA, mentioned that this milestone is a true achievement in the midst of the semiconductor issues and geopolitical impacts of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict further crediting the achievement to the dedication and perseverance of the VWSA team. “I am proud of every employee who has contributed to this achievement, and I look forward to celebrating many more milestones with the VWSA family,” he further added.
Production of the venerable German hatch began at the Kariega plant in 2018 while the facility was retooled for the facelifted Polo on the 16th of August 2021.
This comes after the 500 000th new Polo model rolled off of the production line since it was launched four years ago and further reaffirms the necessity of the Eastern Cape based factory in the global Volkswagen production machine. VWSA currently builds the Polo for all right-hand-drive markets and supplements production for left-hand-drive markets. More impressively, the Kariega plant is the sole manufacturer of the Polo GTI worldwide.
