The Crank: Is Russian Polo coming to Canada?

[svgallery name="2010_VW_Polo_Russia"] By John LeBlanc We already know as part of German Volkswagen Group's plans to overtake Toyota and General Motors for the title of World’s Largest Automaker, it needs to shore up its small car offerings in North America. Phase One is the new, Mexican-made 2011 Jetta compact sedan coming this Fall. It will allegedly sell for thousands less than the current model's $18k-and-change base price. Phase Two is replacing the two-generation-old Golf City (the Jetta City died this year) with a real, honest-to-gawd subcompact to take on the likes of bottom-feeders like the Yaris/Fit/Accent/Fiesta, et al—specifically a Mexican-made Polo, a car that’s been on sale in Europe since 1975. VW’s been scant on the details of the forthcoming Canadian Polo. But this week’s debut of a new Russian-market sedan gives us the clearest hint yet of the Polo heading our way in the next year or so. Yup. It’s a sedan. Not a hatchback, like the über-fun 180 hp Polo GTI. You can blame our hatchback-hating friends to the South for that for that, I guess. But details from the Russian Polo presser could easily be mistaken for a car heading to the Great White North: “The specific demands of Russian drivers and the climate and street conditions in Russia have both been carefully taken into account during the new [Polo]’s development: long-term tests were conducted in different climate zones, and the street conditions in the most variegated regions in Russia were examined. Thus the vehicle has been equipped with an up-to-date and reliable engine [a 103 hp 1.6-litre gas four] that is ideally suited to those operating conditions prevailing in Russia, a galvanized, non-corrosive body and a wheel suspension geared to bad roads. Particularly robust paints were used for the car’s paint job, and the chrome parts are also highly resistant to aggressive agents.” Makes the new Polo sound strong, like Russian bear, nyet? But unlike Ford, Honda, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Fiat, Nissan, Chevrolet and Toyota—which all offer subcompact hatches to Canadian new car buyers—VW has only confirmed a four-door sedan Polo for our shores. So…do you think VW is missing the boat by not bringing over the hatchback Polos to Canada? Or are you just grateful that VW is giving us the opportunity to but any Polo at all? [Source: Volkswagen]

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