Team Volkswagen notches half a million Polos at SA factory
Half a million Volkswagen Polos have been built since 2018 at the automaker’s plant in South Africa. These vehicles are also the source of all Polos in Namibia that are not grey imports. The Polo is marketed in southern Africa and exported outside the customs union to 38 countries.
Volkswagen said the 500,000th unit rolled off the assembly line about four and a half years since the launch of the current Polo. At the beginning of this year, the Polo got a minor facelift to make the later models stand out from the earlier cars.
The car that sounded the 500,000 bell is a white lefthand drive GTI that is destined for France. Incidentally, it is also the 4,202,260th vehicle built at the Volkswagen factory. This statistics shows the overwhelming popularity of the Polo, making up about 12% of all VWs manufactured in South Africa.
“As VWSA and one of only two plants worldwide building this vehicle, we are proud to achieve the half-million mark,” said Ulrich Schwabe, Production Director at VWSA. “Despite difficult circumstances in the industry and the global community, the VWSA family has persevered to bring us this milestone. Just as we faced the challenges as a team, we will celebrate this achievement – and many more to follow – as a team.”
