VW’s Polo gets refresh and tech upgrade

The Polo has a new grille and LED lights to match the look of the latest Golf. Photo: VW

With more than 18 million units built, the Volkswagen Polo is one of the world’s most successful compact cars and now the sixth generation has had a facelift

VW has refreshed the Polo to give it equipment and design features from bigger models in an effort to fend off rivals in the competitive small-car segment.

The face-lifted Polo gains an illuminated light strip along the base of the grille in addition to standard LED lights to match the look of the latest, eighth-generation Golf.

The rear of the Polo now has taillights that stretch onto the tailgate, a common styling device on bigger cars that makes the Polo seem "wider and more valuable," Marco Pavone, VW brand's head of exterior design, said in an online presentation.

It will be equipped with IQ.DRIVE Travel Assist (partly automated driving) and IQ.LIGHT LED matrix headlights (interactive lighting) for the first time.

The Polo fell to fifth place from No. 2 in the small car sales chart in Europe last year with 167,826 sales, down 34 percent compared to 2019.

The model was overtaken by the Toyota Yaris, Opel/Vauxhall Corsa and Peugeot 208. The Renault Clio remained in first place.

Unlike the Clio, Yaris, Corsa and 208, the new Polo will not offer an electrified version. Electrifying the Polo with a hybrid or EV drivetrain "doesn't make sense," a VW spokesman told Automotive News Europe.