VW adds equipment, subtracts price on Polo
BY MIKE COSTELLO | 1st Feb 2012
The German brand’s local arm has replaced its price leader with a five-door version of the Trendline – a decision it claims is a response to the sales domination of five-door body styles at the upper-end of the light car segment.
This leaves the GTI hot hatch as the sole remaining Polo variant to be offered in three-door guise in Australia.
The range re-alignment will also create a little more showroom separation between the Polo and the forthcoming Up city car range, which looks set to appear Down Under in both three-and five-door varieties by the end of the year, priced from under $15,000.
The base Trendline five-door Polo is priced from $16,990 before on-roads – a $300 increase over the discontinued three-door version but $2000 cheaper than the cheapest 77TSI Comfortline five-door variant.
Power comes courtesy of a 1.4-litre petrol engine producing 63kW and 132Nm of torque.
Pricing for existing Comfortline variants has in turn been slashed by $860, with the petrol-powered 77TSI now starting at $18,990 (down from $19,850) and diesel-powered 66TDI versions starting at $21,490 (previously $22,350).
Bluetooth phone connectivity, a Media Device Interface USB audio connection and daytime driving lights are now also standard equipment on all variants, from the Trendline up.
These prices are all for models equipped with manual gearboxes (six-speed for the Comfortline and five-speed for the Trendline), with an optional seven-speed DSG dual clutch automatic costing an extra $2500 on all variants.
Both Comfortline powertrains are unchanged – the 77TSI is fitted with a sprightly turbocharged 1.2-litre petrol engine with 77kW and 175Nm, while the 1.6-litre turbo diesel in the 66TDI produces 66kW and 230Nm of torque.
Pricing on the flagship GTI is also unchanged, but Volkswagen has added a suite of extra equipment to keep 132kW/250Nm baby hot hatch – which still has a waiting list of up to nine months – fresh for 2012.
Now included is the previously-optional touchscreen audio system, automatic climate control air conditioning, rain sensing wipers and an automatically dimming rear-view mirror
| Volkswagen Polopricing (before on-roads): | |
| Trendline 5-dr | $16,990 |
| Trendline 5-dr (a) | $19,490 |
| 77TSI Comfortline 5-dr | $18,990 |
| 77TSI Comfortline 5-dr(a) | $21,490 |
| 66TDI Comfortline 5-dr | $21,490 |
| 66TDI Comfortline 5-dr(a) | $23,990 |
| GTI 3-dr (a) | $27,790 |
| GTI 5-dr (a) | $28,990 |
