The new Volkswagen Polo was celebrated by the international journalists when it premiered at the Geneva Motor Show by being named the 2010 European Car of the Year.

The Chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Group, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn said: “The new Polo meets the highest standards that are expected in today’s cars and even goes a step further. Its efficient technologies, best possible active and passive safety systems, a level of quality that has never been offered in the A0 class and impressive design all set new benchmarks in the fifth generation – third generation in South Africa - of this bestseller that has sold over 10.6 million – approximately 293 000 in South Africa - units worldwide.”

Prof. Dr Winterkorn continued: “The Polo is clearly the right car at the right time. Here we have created a Volkswagen that takes the unparalleled success of the Golf concept and effectively transfers it to an independent segment – the Polo class.”

The design ingenuity and total package offering of the new Polo has helped Volkswagen to break its 18-year wait for the esteemed European Car of the Year title. In November 2009, the new Volkswagen Polo was named as the 2010 European Car of the Year by the 59 members from 23 European countries. The last time a Volkswagen won was in 1992 with the third generation Golf.

“The new Polo stands for German engineering craftsmanship and superior cutting edge technology. At the same time it is a fresh, youthful and cosmopolitan car.
The fifth generation Polo was designed to address customer expectations with even greater uncompromising standards. That is why we are naturally very pleased to see our efforts validated in the form of this award,” said Prof. Dr. Winterkorn.

The 2010 European Car of the Year award capped what was an extraordinary debut year for the new Polo which was launched in Europe in May 2009. In 2009, the new Polo was named by “auto motor sport” magazine as the 2009 Best Car. It also won the Grüne (“Green”) and the Goldene Lenkrad (“Golden Steering Wheel”) awards by publisher Springer Verlag.