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Remembering the iconic VW Polo: Owners share their fond memories

6th August 2024, 10:11 by Ananth Iyer

This VW has developed its own strong cult here, a cult which is totally obsessed with her and how can they not be, its a 12 years long love story afterall.

BHPian ayu8648 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Prologue

Coming up is a story of an icon, an icon who stayed true to its DNA. On its crisp shoulders not only laid the weight of itself but the fate of a manufacturer, a car solely response for the future of a brand. The hype of which gave multiple companies in opposition many sleepless nights. A VW which soldiered on for more than one generation in the very same generation. A VW which was launched as a normal premium hatchback but was discontinued as a legendary hatch. A hatch which gave time a tough time. Presenting to you, a story of one Polo and many generations.

Introduction

Firstly, pardon me for this terribly protracted thread. This thread is purely made out of my Love for a timeless machine which left a strong impression on all of us. A car which we all admire and since we don't know if it'll ever make a comeback, we can atleast sit back and have a look at the glorious twelve years it has had. Moreover, a proper proper tribute was pending anyway, so here it goes. This thread is going to be very lengthy and descriptive with lots of photos so please take your own delightful time to read it.

The Polo, its name was derived from 'Polar winds' which followed VW's tradition of naming their cars after winds. The first gen Polo was a rebadged Audi 500 but Polo's India story started with the MK5, the tale of this car stretches all the way back to 2007 when Europe's giant entered India with their iconic Passat priced at 27.45 lakhs (Ex-showroom Delhi).

Shortly after the launch of the New Passat, VW laid out their plan for the Indian market which included vast number of models, right from a new hatch to the ultra luxurious Phaeton. It was absolutely clear that Volkswagen aimed total market dominance with their world class German engineered products. Besides the new hatch, the Polo codenamed PQ25XEM, VW also confirmed a saloon version of it, yes, the Vento. These two mass market products were seriously going to launch VW in the mass segment and change the image of the brand of being only an expensive CBU and CKD operator.

Which engines and gearbox would VW use and how would it position the two cars was yet to be seen. Volkswagen was to produce the two cars in their upcoming factory in Chakan near Pune. The Polo was to go on the Assembly line first and only then the saloon version could follow. The all new Polo was expected in 2009 with an expected price tag of 5-7 lakhs and later the Vento among many other models. VW was truly serious about India as they always insisted.

While the fifth gen Polo was in the making for India, VW continued offering their premium end products like the Jetta in 2008 followed by the Iconic Beetle and the High End Suv Touareg in 2009. Volkswagen followed the top-down strategy which meant they were providing it all from their premium high end offerings for the high end customers to a premium hatchback for masses of India. With the help of this strategy and their world class premium offerings VW had already become one of the most aspirational brands in the country and the fan following was touching an all time high.

Research and development

While a few fortunate people flocked to VW's less than 40 dealerships back in 2009 and endowed themselves with the absolutely finest automobiles they could get from Volkswagen. The company was busy making, testing and altering the Polo according to the Indian needs.

A Convoy of 6 Volkswagen cars with foreign number plates spotted in 2009 just outside Pune with 2 Jettas, 3 Polos and one Seat Ibiza. What a convoy!

A silver Polo being tested, again with foreign number plates.

Building a premium hatch from a Premium brand which was well adapted to Indian conditions, was agressively priced, was efficient and well, considerably light on pocket to maintain without compromising on the world class quality associated with VW and ofcourse the core German engineering wasn't an easy task. Making the PQ25XEM wasn't as simple as it seemed. Volkswagen faced alot of challenges, the biggest one was the supplier base in India which needed to meet VW's superior quality standards and still be price competitive. However, there was no room for mistakes, VW had no option but to get the Polo absolutely right because Polo was the car that was going to set Volkswagen in motion it was going to shape the new face of 'people's car'.

A picture of the global spec Polo and the Fabia spotted outside a hotel. That Yellow shade on the Fabia is just something!

A special milestone

The 11,111,111 th Polo.

On 4th February 2010, the 11,111,111 th Polo was Rolled off the assembly line in VW's Pune plant by the German President Horst Kohler during his visit to India and Jochem Heizmann, Member of the Board of Management of VolkswagenAG. Globally Polo's production started first in 1975. Besides the chakan plant, Polo was being produced at Pamplona in Spain and Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Volkswagen's move behind choosing India to reach and celebrate this milestone showed their commitment towards the country while on the other hand preparations for the media drive were thriving. The launch month was almost here.

The final preparations

The pre- series production of the all new Polo started on 27th April 2009 in their all new state-of-art Chakan factory which was built in a record time of just 17 months. This factory was the single largest investment by the automaker which was about 3800 Cr. It also represented the largest investment by any German automaker in India that time. The annual production capacity of the plant was 1,10,000 cars, it was one of VW's 61 plants globally back then. The Chakan plant was fully integrated with all the manufacturing facilities with its own Press shop, Body shop, Paint shop and Final assembly. This production was a pre-run to the official production of the Polo. The official production started on 12th December, 2009.

Jochem Heizmann, Member of the Board of Management of VolkswagenAG with a freshly rolled out Polo.

The plant was going to produce a total of 3 cars The Polo, Skoda Fabia and the upcoming VW Vento, later on even the Skoda Rapid was to follow the assembly line.