50 years of the Volkswagen Polo

“Small on the outside. Big on the inside.” This was the slogan used by Volkswagen 50 years ago to advertise its latest product at the time, the Polo. When the small car came on the market in early May 1975, nobody expected that this extremely compact two-door car would become such a bestseller – nationally and internationally, over five decades, in six generations and more than 20 million examples sold worldwide.

When the first new Polos were on sale at dealerships, they were part of a new Volkswagen model family that took off in the early 1970s. In the spring of 1975, the angular small car followed the Passat (1973) and Golf (1974) of the then still young water-cooled model generation, which succeeded the legendary VW Beetle. Throughout six model generations, the Polo is still hugely popular today and has made the model a bestseller. Recognition from national and international trade media includes awards such as Car of the Year 2010, World Car of the Year 2010 and World Urban Car 2018.

What began as a simple two-door vehicle in 1975 has been perfected and expanded in many facets over five decades: in a total of six generations, as a hatchback, Coupé, and as a sporty G40 or GTI1, as a colourful Harlequin, an estate, a notchback with the name Derby, a CrossPolo with a distinctly off-road look, as an efficient BlueMotion and, of course, as an extremely succesful R WRC, which was crowned with four World Championship titles in the World Rally Championship from 2013 to 2016. 

Each generation of the Polo has offered more with new features such as front and side airbags, power steering, belt tensioners and ABS were introduced and made sure the Polo remained successful. Today the Polo boasts assist and convenience systems that are otherwise available only in higher vehicle classes. Its popularity worldwide seems undiminished and it will be kept up to date in the coming year.

Series production of the Polo began in March 1975 at Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, with 1.1 million units being produced there by 1981. As the model increased in importance, production was spread to other locations around the world, including Spain, Argentina, South Africa, Slovenia, China, Brazil and India. With more than 20 million units built, the Polo is one of the world’s most successful small compact vehicles. 

Words by Mark Slack