Polo Vivo remains most popular passenger car

Polo Vivo has been the top-selling brand in the South African passenger car market for the past 18 months. This despite new models being launched into the market on a nearly monthly basis, and more expected in the near future.

Volkswagen South Africa introduced the Vivo as the entry-level car in the A0 segment to fill the gap that was created when the venerable Citi Golf was retired in January 2010. "The success of the Vivo in the past two years has been overwhelming. It is a unique offering that we introduced with the aim of providing our customers with an affordable and reliable product," said Mike Glendinning, director of sales and marketing at Volkswagen South Africa.

Value for money

"The cornerstones of the Vivo are affordability, proven German product quality, safety, space and comfort. It represents excellent value for money without compromising on core product essentials that customers expect from Volkswagen. In short, customers are getting an A class car for the price of an A0 car, a difficult proposition to ignore in this heavily contested segment of the market.

"As if that were not enough, the Vivo also has the class-leading residual value in its segment in the used car market. This ensures that the cost of ownership over a three year cycle makes it one of the cheapest cars to own," added Glendinning.

Nearly 70% of Vivo parts are sourced from local suppliers. The localisation of parts has resulted in the creation of a number of jobs and the establishment of a Supplier Park in Uitenhage.