Made-in-South-Africa Volkswagen Polo production turns 30

Volkswagen Group Africa has, officially, celebrated three decades of building the Polo in South Africa at its Kariega plant in the Eastern Cape.

Two-million

Part of Wolfsburg’s wider celebration of 75 years in South Africa this year, the Polo’s 30^th comes just under two months after the two-millionth example left the facility in the town previously known as Uitenhage.

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In total, this consists of 595 043 for South Africa and 1 421 960 to no less than 38 export markets.

From Seat to Polo

Originally a rebadged Seat Cordoba known as the Polo Classic, 95 385 units left the plant between 1996 and 2002. This also includes the later Polo Playa.

Volkswagen new small car for the 1990s — *_{Where it started. The original Polo debuted in 1996 as the Polo Classic, a rebadged Seat Cordoba. Picture: favcars.com}*

Two-thousand-and-two saw the start of production of the “real” or fourth generation Polo, which ended seven years later after 282 005 units.

Debuting later in 2009, the fifth generation Polo set a record of 387 201 units made between 2009 and 2014. In updated form, sales a further 305 268 were made between 2014 and 2017.

New Volkswagen Polo — *_{Current sixth generation Polo has been in production since 2017. Picture: Volkswagen}*

Arriving later in 2017, the current sixth generation Polo, in pre-facelift form, officially broke the 400 000 sales mark, with an eventual offset of 422 603 units.

Made for the world

Since September 2024, production has been taking place exclusively in South Africa, bar market specific variants in Brazil and China.

In December 2024, the plant set a five-year record of 167 084 vehicles produced in a single year. Of these, 131 485 were exported.

Volkswagen celebrates 30 years of Polo production in South Africa — *_{Volkswagen’s Kariega plant, formerly Uitenhage, produced its first Volkswagen-badged vehicle in 1951. Picture: Volkswagen}*

Two years before, the one-millionth export market Polo left the plant en-route to the United Kingdom.

“Reaching 75 years in South Africa and 30 years of Polo production is a proud milestone for our company. And also for our Kariega plant and our employees,” Volkswagen Group Africa, Production Director, Ulrich Schwabe, said.

“This milestone is a testament to the dedication, skill, and passion of our employees, whose commitment has made the Polo a success story both locally and internationally. Their contribution has been the driving force behind the Polo’s success.”

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