Polo one of the best selling cars in June

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Leif
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Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by Leif »

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/car-m ... rs-in-may/

The surprise is the huuuuge number of Ford Festers sold. There is a Facebook group organised by owners whose Ecoboost engines have gone pop. :shock:
silverhairs
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Re: Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by silverhairs »

Going back to when Skoda first produced the Yeti, I was in the market for a new motor. I went to a Skoda dealer, had a test drive, the salesman didn't even come out with us (Mrs & I). Went back to order one and the sales guy told us "there's a years waiting list for these", so you can guess what I said?
Leif
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Re: Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by Leif »

I can see what you are saying but do most people buy a factory order? My local dealer has a huge yard full of new Polos in a range of colours. I bought mine off the peg, and it has all that I want. I do agree that the Polo wait for a factory order is absurd.

Not sure I understand the appeal of the Fester given that the Polo has more driver and passenger room and a larger boot.
SRGTD
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Re: Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by SRGTD »

Top 10 new car registrations are also reported each month on polodriver.com, giving current month and year to date figures.

I find the polodriver.com site quite good, with some interesting articles being published from time to time.
Leif wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:46 pm I can see what you are saying but do most people buy a factory order? My local dealer has a huge yard full of new Polos in a range of colours.
There will be a segment of new car buyers who value personalising their new car to include certain specific options that aren’t part of the standard spec, and the vast majority of dealer stock vehicles will be fairly standard spec without too many additional factory options fitted. Models of a certain trim level available from dealer stock (GTI / GTI+ for example) may also be limited. So, if someone places a high level of importance on certain features that aren’t part of a car’s standard spec (or a specific trim level / model that’s not in stock), there’s quite a high likelihood that they’ll go the factory order route, rather than settle for an in-stock vehicle without the required options.
Leif wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:46 pm Not sure I understand the appeal of the Fester given that the Polo has more driver and passenger room and a larger boot.
Would-be buyers of the new Fiesta are likely to consider other factors in addition interior space and boot space, such as vehicle price (v’s the competition), ride and handling, available discounts and build/delivery timescales. The new Fiesta will have great appeal to the core of loyal existing Fiesta owners who will automatically consider the new model as their car of choice when the time comes to replace their existing car.

A factor that many owners will place a high priority on is a car’s ride and handling. According to the motoring press, the previous generation Fiesta was very good in this respect - I think it may have set the benchmark for the small car segment. I don’t know whether or not the latest Fiesta’s ride and handling represents an improvement over the previous generation Fiesta, but it’s highly likely it will do as it’s an area that historically, Ford seem to have been very good at. Ford also seem to have upped their game as far as interior quality of the Fiesta is concerned and the latest model does seem to be much more ‘premium’ than the previous model, which will also help retain existing customers and attract new ones.

The frustration of excessively long waiting times can and will be a big negative to many prospective new Polo owners. I can recall one forum member on this forum cancelling their Polo GTI order and ordering a new model Fiesta ST, because of the shorter waiting times for the Ford. Order books for the new Fiesta ST model only opened at the beginning of May, and some forum members over on fiestastoc.com have already taken delivery of their new cars; so no 42 week wait time like there is for the Polo GTI/GTI+. So if waiting times for the Fiesta model range in general (not just the performance model) are more reasonable and acceptable to prospective customers than the lengthy waiting times for the Polo, then that will be very appealing to some, and could be the deciding factor in a Fiesta vs Polo purchasing decision.
Leif
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Re: Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by Leif »

At the risk of sounding rude, what you have written is pretty obvious. Actual numbers of factory orders and total orders would be very interesting.

I drove quite a few of the previous Fester, between 6 and 15 years ago, as loaners while my Ford was being serviced. They felt crude, with a somewhat harsh ride, and not quiet, never did understand the rave reviews. As you say, the old tacky interior has gone, the new one is said to be better.

It is an nteresting question as to how important press reviews are. In my case, they were key, along with features and price.
SRGTD
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Re: Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by SRGTD »

Leif wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:07 am At the risk of sounding rude, what you have written is pretty obvious. Actual numbers of factory orders and total orders would be very interesting.
That’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to make it. I was merely outlining why a standard spec, ‘off the peg’ model isn’t for everyone, and why people are prepared to order their ideal spec and wait for a car to be built, rather than buy an in-stock car and then regret not having certain options. I agree, it would be interesting to have an insight into the numbers of factory orders and total orders for both the Polo and the Fiesta; I suspect there will be a higher proportion of factory ordered Polos than Fiestas.
Leif wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:07 am I drove quite a few of the previous Fester, between 6 and 15 years ago, as loaners while my Ford was being serviced. They felt crude, with a somewhat harsh ride, and not quiet, never did understand the rave reviews. As you say, the old tacky interior has gone, the new one is said to be better.
I think that many cars built 6-15 years ago would feel crude compared with their modern day counterparts. I have driven VW and Audi loan cars from my dealer over the years and some of those weren’t particularly refined either, even though they were nearly new at the time. Did you test drive the new Fiesta when you were considering buying your Polo to see if / how they have improved compared to the Fiestas you drove as loan cars 6-15 years ago? The new Fiesta has received very good reviews from the motoring press, so it may have been worth considering, and seeing whether your previous views based on earlier models are still relevant.

As for the importance of press reviews; when I am considering changing my car, I feel they are a key part of the research process. A motoring journalist’s view from a short test of a specific car won’t give you much of an idea of what a particular car is like to live with on a day to day basis, but the long term test reviews of cars on motoring publication’s fleet are quite insightful. Even with the short test reviews, specific positives and negatives will be highlighted, which can be useful in drawing up a shortlist of potential purchases.

Intrigued by your reference to the Fiesta as the Fester and why you don’t refer to it by it’s correct name.
Leif
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Re: Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by Leif »

silverhairs suggested that a big reason why Ford Fiesta sales are so high is that the VW Polo waiting list is so long. He might be right, but we can only know if we have actual numbers and perhaps someone here has access to them, or can find them. Your remark came across as rather condescending as you were writing the blindingly obvious as if it had not occurred to me. Please credit me with some intelligence. :)

Regarding Ford, my last car but one was a Ford Ka. The car itself was okay, but it was a rust bucket, and felt a bit tinny. The paint was not as good as on my VW UP. However, I was seriously screwed over by the local Ford garage, and a letter of complaint to Ford did not even elicit a response. Also my subsequent VW Up just felt better put together, a basic car, but better engineered and designed. Hence I will not touch Ford anymore. Regarding older models, no the older Polo is on a par with the current one IMO in terms of comfort and quality. The new one scores due to the larger internal size. The older Fiesta was very highly reviewed at the time, but felt awful to me. I suspect that one sold on price as it did undercut the Polo. I don't think the latest Fiesta does undercut the Polo, so it must be reviews, test drives or short factory build waiting times that sell it. Each to their own.
SRGTD
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Re: Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by SRGTD »

Leif wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 10:17 am silverhairs suggested that a big reason why Ford Fiesta sales are so high is that the VW Polo waiting list is so long. He might be right, but we can only know if we have actual numbers and perhaps someone here has access to them, or can find them. Your remark came across as rather condescending as you were writing the blindingly obvious as if it had not occurred to me. Please credit me with some intelligence. :)


If you felt my reply to your earlier post was condescending, then apologies; it was never intended to be.

Although my reply was to one of your posts, other forum members and also forum guests who read the forum may not be as familiar as yourself with the (pretty much standard) spec of cars held as dealer in-stock cars, so the response was intended for the benefit of the wider forum community.

I’ll take no further part in this discussion thread.
silverhairs
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Re: Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by silverhairs »

WOW, how did I get involved in this, I've never mentioned once about Fiesta's, I posted about a Skoda Yeti waiting time (1 year "2010") :lol:

And I had to check my posts :roll:
AndyGTi
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Re: Polo one of the best selling cars in June

Post by AndyGTi »

As an observation I don’t think the sales figures for Polos are anything out of the ordinary, or being held back by delays.

I’ve looked at the monthly figures over last 3 to 4 years and the Polo has always been out by the Fiesta at a ration of around 2.5/3 to 1. On some good months it was 2 to 1, but that was rare exceptions.

As for factory orders, the last few cars which I have bought, there has been no need for a factory order as I got what I wanted either in dealer stock or on the way over and not allocated (until I came along).

Thanks :D :D
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