Happy Sunday. Plans for the day? We are cruising around in the new Polo Highline DSG and enjoying the maturity of the car. The low fuel consumption from the 85 kW 1.0 turbo engine is making things extra sweet in these tough economic times. @mfuphi #bewaretheconfidence #volkswagen #volkswagenpolo #VW #hatch #VWPolo #DSG #sunday 📸 @forever4tune

A post shared by The Car People (@khulekani_on_wheels) on Jun 9, 2018 at 11:39pm PDT

By Amanda Mfuphi

As a competition lawyer, our field of work is largely concerned about the so-called dominant players in the market abusing their dominance. These dominant players abuse their dominance in various ways which harm consumer welfare; and some of these are the lack of innovation, lack of investment to better the product offered to consumer and complacency from the so-called dominant firm.

So when we had recently the new Polo 1.0 TSI 85kW Highline DSG in our doorstep, which is one of South Africa’s most passenger vehicle, we couldn’t help but assess whether Volkswagen has become complacent with the sixth-generation of the Polo or whether they have not taken the foot of the pedal and shown their willingness to still vigorously compete in this segment of the market. Most of us would recall that the previous generation Polo has been South Africa’s second-best selling passenger vehicle since its launch in 2010 with its homegrown stalemate, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo, taking the pole position. So it is simply not in doubt that Volkswagen has a firm grip on this segment of the passenger vehicle market.

Exterior

The sixth generation Polo is immediately distinguishable from its predecessor and has been given a new exterior design, which gives it a sportier look and a semblance of the new Golf. The new Polo is on the modular transverse matrix (MQB) platform alongside the Golf, Touran, Tiguan, Passat and Arteon. The MQB platform gives the new Polo a number of advantages, like compact dynamic and a sporty look with improved headroom inside the vehicle. The new design of the new Polo gives it a more masculine and expressive look and it is completely different vehicle from the previous generation of the Polo, which is quite refreshing from a customer perspective. Our Polo came in a deep black colour with chrome strips in the lower ventilation grille; gloss black rear boot spoiler and it was fitted with 16-inch ‘Las Minas’ alloy wheels as a standard feature. The headlights and bumper of the new Polo appear wider and gives the car more width.

 Interior

The new Polo is also bigger than its predecessor in every dimension and offers more space for the driver and passengers, as well as significantly increased boot volume which increased from 280 to 350 litres. On the technology front, the new Polo comes with its Active Info Display infotainment system, which is nestled in an airplane-like cockpit looking setup. Quite impressive for a vehicle in this segment. The Active Info Display system has an 8-inch touchscreen to form a modern in a glass-encased functional unit. Apart from looking and feeling good, the infotainment system is quite easy to use. Our top of the range Polo Highline had two USB ports and it was Apple CarPlay enabled. Also packed in there was advanced feature such as driver assistance systems (rear view camera, PDA systems) and cruise control with speed limiter to make those longer drives more pleasant.

The drive

Our Polo was powered with the three-cylinder 85 kW/ 200Nm engine with a 7-speed automatic transmission. The new Polo is no sports car, however, the Polo TSI has sufficient power to get out of sticky situations (and there are lots of those when trying to avoid mini-bus taxis in downtown Pretoria). The drive is quite comfortable and refined, and enjoyable from both the driver and passengers’ perspective. The engine sounds refined and is quiet. The seats offer optimal support which enhances comfort, especially for longer trips, making the Polo score high for both in city and long distance driving.

 Final word

From our view, it was quite clear that Volkswagen has not taken its foot off the pedal and has come out guns blazing with the sixth-generation Polo. We have seen a completely new exterior design of the Polo with an interior of that has been properly upgraded.

Price

1.0 TSI 70kW Trendline                                  R235,900

1.0 TSI 70kW Comfortline                              R 264,700

1.0 TSI 70kW Comfortline DSG                     R 280,700

1.0 TSI 85kW Highline                                    R286,200

1.0 TSI 85kW Highline DSG                          R302,200

The new Volkswagen Polo models come standard with a 3 year/45 000km Service Plan, 3 year/120 000km warranty and a 12 year anti-corrosion warranty. Service Interval is 15 000km.