How many VW Polos have been built in South Africa

[TopAuto]

How many VW Polos have been built in South Africa

VW has been building Polos in South Africa since 1996.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

what if you compare it to Wolfburg that makes the Big Boy Golf GTI/ 8, sure its puny.

 

[Neuk_]

what if you compare it to Wolfburg that makes the Big Boy Golf GTI/ 8, sure its puny.

And take in to account that our first 'Polo', was not a Polo at all but a rebadged previous generation SEAT as we never got the MkIII Polo in South Africa and that Vivo's are previous generation budget Polo's that are only available in South Africa.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

but compared to somewhere like Germany, as they also make the up! or other cars,
our output of the Polo is but a small percentage,

 

[Neuk_]

but compared to somewhere like Germany, as they also make the up! or other cars,
our output of the Polo is but a small percentage,

Yeah, most Volkswagen factories make a few lines of cars while SA makes only the Polo and only in RHD, although there are a few other Volkswagen factories that make a single line of cars.

 

[PhireSide]

but compared to somewhere like Germany, as they also make the up! or other cars,
our output of the Polo is but a small percentage,

The VW plant in Uitenhage was initially tooled to produce the Beetle, thereafter I think it was retooled for the Golf Mk. 1, and then for the 9N3 and 6R Polos as these ended up being the popular buys within SA.

@Neuk_ can correct me if I'm wrong on the above, it's been a while since I've been to the AutoPavillion museum

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Yeah, most Volkswagen factories make a few lines of cars while SA makes only the Polo and only in RHD, although there are a few other Volkswagen factories that make a single line of cars.

hence my point, compared to somewhere that exports a lot of its vehicles and all over the world, like Japan or S/Korea,
that makes both RHD and LHD versions, as well as multiple lines of cars,

what SA puts out is microscopic and insignificant, and dare I say it overprotected and costly for what you get.

 

[Neuk_]

The VW plant in Uitenhage was initially tooled to produce the Beetle, thereafter I think it was retooled for the Golf Mk. 1, and then for the 9N3 and 6R Polos as these ended up being the popular buys within SA.

@Neuk_ can correct me if I'm wrong on the above, it's been a while since I've been to the AutoPavillion museum

Originally the Type 1 (Beetle), then the MkI Golf, then CitiGolf, apparently Jetta as well but I think that is the CitiGolf based Fox and not a Golf based Jetta, the MkIV Golf Stationwagon (Variant), the SEAT MKII Ibiza Polo Playa and Classic's as we never got the 6N Polo in South Africa, then 9n/9n3 Polo's, then 9n3 Polo based Vivo's, then 6R Polo's, then 6R Polo based Vivo's and finally the current Polo and it's facelift. There have been a few commercial vehicles made locally like the Volksbus and Constellation and there is the VW Motorsport factory/workshop as well and I am excluding any CKD cars like Type 2's (Buses), Type 3's (Variant/Notchback/Squareback), etc. that were otherwise fully imported but locally assembled.

P.S. The above is from memory and a bit of Googling so may not be 100% factual or accurate.

 

[Neuk_]

hence my point, compared to somewhere that exports a lot of its vehicles and all over the world, like Japan or S/Korea,
that makes both RHD and LHD versions, as well as multiple lines of cars,

what SA puts out is microscopic and insignificant, and dare I say it overprotected and costly for what you get.

100%

Local production, while generally pretty good, is forced to be labour intensive and use as much locally sourced raw material, parts, components as possible which I don't think is a huge issue but if you had to give the OEM companies the choice of starting over I doubt many would choose SA.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

100%

Local production, while generally pretty good, is forced to be labour intensive and use as much locally sourced raw material, parts, components as possible which I don't think is a huge issue but if you had to give the OEM companies the choice of starting over I doubt many would choose SA.

also bear in mind were in Africa and relatively far away from the major ports/cities around the world, so I guess they have to export and import a lot to make it worthwhile,
even if its ONLY for local consumption,

SA is quite isolated after all.