Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

Once again, the Volkswagen Polo is rumored to be in line to join VW's U.S./Canadian lineup.

I normally react to such announcements the same way I react to the promise of getting that other example of German transportation heretofore unavailable in These States, a fleet of InterCity Express bullet trains: I've heard it all before.  But the latest rumors involving the Polo coming to the New World look to be for real this time.  Motor Trend has been told by an unnamed source inside VW that Wolfsburg is planning to introduce the next-generation Polo - the sixth-generation model - in North America in 2016, a year after its European debut.  Among the features being readied for the next Polo are a new three-cylinder TDI BlueMotion diesel engine and driver-assistance from the Mark 7 Golf (coming to America soon) and the Audi A3.

The current Polo hatchback, with a length of 155.6 inches and riding on a 97-inch wheelbase, is only slightly longer than an old VW Rabbit (Mark 1 Golf) from the seventies but slightly shorter than a 1985 Mark 2 Volkswagen Golf, and seven inches smaller than the 2013 Golf, to give you some perspective of how small it remains after several redesigns and expanded dimensions.   The standard engine for the current Polo is a 1.4-liter inline four, with even three-cylinder engines and TDI BlueMotion diesels of similar configurations, which means it'll get far better fuel economy than any Golf or Jetta currently available in the States.  The price of this economical runabout in Germany is a cool €12,275 (US$16,355).  Of course, if it's made in Mexico for the U.S. and Canadian markets, it may cost even less, and you can bet there'll be a notchback version for Americans who prefer trunks to hatches (i.e., a lot of them).  

So why is Volkswagen suddenly eyeing the U.S. for the Polo after nearly forty years of denying it to us? CAFE requirements.  Automakers have to have a product with a corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) rating of 34.1 miles a gallon by 2016, and a fuel sipper like the Polo will help VW get to that standard.  So will the GTD (a diesel version of the GTI) and a compact crossover wagon, both of which are expected to join the Polo in American showrooms.  I say, it's about time.  Volkswagen has never paid serious attention to the U.S. subcompact market ever since the Golf/Rabbit graduated to compact status with the second-generation restyling in the 1980s.  The one Volkswagen below the Golf that was sold here - the Brazilian-built Fox - was an el cheapo product with a pedestrian design, without an automatic transmission option.  

Whenever the Polo has been shown at auto shows in America, it's usually to burnish VW's reputation for making economical, practical cars worldwide.  The Mark 4 Polo above was shown at the New York show in 2007 as an example of how VW's BlueMotion engines could deliver incredible fuel economy and performance - particularly, the European equivalent of 62 miles to the gallon (102 grams of carbon emitted per kilometer).  I took the above photo of said Polo, and I was all over it physically as if it were a Maserati.  It was locked, of course, as it was a model not for sale in America.  At least the public got to see this Polo in New York; the current model was shown to the international auto press at the 2010 New York auto show after it won the 2010 European Car of the Year award . . . and then quickly carted away to keep American showgoers from seeing it and - heaven forbid! - expressing interest in buying one.    

I hope this time it's for real.  I won't be buying a new car any time soon, and I was disappointed that I couldn't buy the current three-door Polo model shown below (it would certainly have looked great in my driveway) - but I hope anyone else who's in the market for a subcompact in the near future gets to buy one.  If it doesn't happen this time, you'll have to either buy a Toyota Yaris or take the bus.

In which case, I would tell you to take the bus.

Cross your fingers.

As for the Up! . . . please, let's be realistic.  We're never going to get one in the States. (Or a bullet train network, for that matter.)  Be thankful at least that the Polo finally seems to be - seems to be - within our grasp.