VW has achieved a new milestone at its Polo factory in South Africa.
The German carmaker recently announced that it has built a staggering 500,000 Polo units since the facelifted hatchback went into production in 2021.
The model to hit the magic number was a Kings Red Polo, which is bound for a customer in Volkswagen’s home country of Germany.
The company’s factory, located in Kariega in the Eastern Cape, is a vital part of its global export plans, as it is the only site that still manufacturers the Polo for the Europe and Asia-Pacific markets.
For this reason, Plant Kariega has been dubbed “Home of the Polo” as the vehicle continues to be exported to more than 30 countries.
Of course, the model is still very popular in South Africa, where it has long been a segment leader for hatchback sales.
Of the 500,000 units to make their way off the assembly line in the Eastern Cape, a total of 452,207 were built for export, while the remaining 47,793 have made their way onto our roads.
The Polo was actually the most exported vehicle in South Africa last year, beating out other locally-made favourites like the BMW X3 and Ford Ranger.
Just as impressive is the fact that VW has produced 1,992,464 Polos at Kariega over the past 29 years.
“The role of the Polo in the Volkswagen Group Africa success story has been a strong one, and the same can be said of its contribution to this country’s automotive exports,” said Ulrich Schwabe, Production Director at Volkswagen Group Africa.
“I am proud to share in this milestone with the colleagues who build, sell and export this high-quality car to the world.”
Another win for VW
The 500,000th Polo is the second milestone VW South Africa has achieved this month, as it previously announced it had also produced its three-millionth vehicle at Kariega.
The plant has been in operation for nearly 75 years, during which time it has produced an incredible 18 different VW and Audi models, excluding variants:
- VW Beetle (1951 – 1979)
- VW Type 2 (1955 – 2002)
- VW Type 3 Sedan, Variant and Fastback (1963 – 1969)
- Audi Super 90 (1968 – 1972)
- VW Type 4 – 411 and 412 Sedan and Variant (1969 – 1974)
- Audi 100 (including Coupe S) to Audi A4 (1972 – 2001)
- Passat sedans, hatchbacks and station wagons (1974 – 1987)
- Audi 80 sedans and station wagons (1975 – 1981)
- VW Fleetline range, Kombi, Panel van, Pickup (1975 – 1978)
- Golf 1 to 5 (1978 – 2009)
- Jetta 1 to 5 (1980 – 2009)
- VW Golf 1 Pickup (1980 – 2007)
- VW Citi Golf (1984 – 2009)
- VW Fox/Trippa (1987 – 1995)
- VW Polo Classic (1996 – 2002)
- VW Polo Playa (1998 – 2002)
- VW Polo range including Cross Polo and Polo Vivo (2002 – 2017)
- VW Polo, including Polo Vivo and Polo GTI (2018 – current)
“This milestone affirms Volkswagen’s legacy in Kariega and the South African market at large,” said Schwabe.
“This plant has produced many icons over the past seven decades, including the Beetle, the Citi Golf and now the Vivo, and we intend to make our Tengo the next icon when we start manufacturing it in Kariega from 2027.”
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