SA-built Volkswagen Polo GTI being phased out in Europe – report

A new report suggests Volkswagen has started phasing out the locally built Polo GTI in Europe.

According to Motor1.com’s Brazilian division, the hot hatch is being pulled from VW’s range in countries such as the United Kingdom, France and even its home market of Germany.

We visited VW’s UK website and noticed the Polo GTI was listed as being “available from stock only”, while the hot hatch has seemingly been removed from the website of the two other abovementioned countries.

The reason? Well, we’re sure you’ve guessed it by now. Yes, Europe’s increasingly stringent emissions standards are surely to blame, with automakers soon having to meet a fleet-wide average CO2 output of just 95 g/km (for reference, the SA-spec Polo GTI emits a claimed 134 g/km).

Of course, VW SA builds the Polo GTI at Uitenhage here in South Africa – for both the local market and export – alongside cooking versions of the popular hatchback.

As a reminder, the Polo GTI offers 147 kW and 320 N.m from its turbocharged 2,0-litre, four-cylinder heart. Fitted with a six-speed dual-clutch transmission as standard, the B-segment blaster is currently priced at R411 900.