UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

lancslad1985 wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:32 am VW did confirm to me via Instagram the gti will be back but orders are currently full. Interestingly enough, it’s not just the gti that has vanished from the UK configurator - the SEL has gone now and the R-Line is only available in 95PS. Wonder if the facelift is coming early or if they just have filled order books with the reduced number of staff on the lines.

monkeyhanger wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 9:15 am

lancslad1985 wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:32 am VW did confirm to me via Instagram the gti will be back but orders are currently full. Interestingly enough, it’s not just the gti that has vanished from the UK configurator - the SEL has gone now and the R-Line is only available in 95PS. Wonder if the facelift is coming early or if they just have filled order books with the reduced number of staff on the lines.

Maybe they 're being responsible (for once) in not promising something they can't deliver in the current climate with reduced capacity or limited availability of the parts required? I'm convinced that my MK7 Golf R took 8 months because they couldn't get hold of the Pretoria wheels I specced. Orders with the fugly Cadiz wheels were being knocked out in 3 months.

I'd imagine an early facelift would only be on its way earlier than anticipated if there are significant savings to be made in doing so e.g. all that buttonless tech from the MK8 Golf, or they do apply 48v mild hybrid tech and maybe go 7 speed DSG for the GTI due to emissions obligations.

Don't forget that for every "0g CO2/km" fully electric car they make, that seriously offsets CO2 on other ICE cars. 1 ID3 cancels out a couple of Polo GTIs if the average of the 3 cars is under 95g/km. Take one of those ID3s and it'll offset a lot of the 1.0TSI cars that aren't over the 95g CO2 threshold by much.

The Golf and Polo probably only have one more generation left after AW Polo and MK8 Golf before VW is all electric.

lancslad1985 wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:32 am VW did confirm to me via Instagram the gti will be back but orders are currently full. Interestingly enough, it’s not just the gti that has vanished from the UK configurator - the SEL has gone now and the R-Line is only available in 95PS. Wonder if the facelift is coming early or if they just have filled order books with the reduced number of staff on the lines.

Ima wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 10:00 am VW confirmed only one more golf after this one so I’d imagine same for Polo. The cost cutting on mk 8 very obvious and the massive amounts of plastic around the dashboard is hideous as is the electronic volume switch on the touchscreen which looks almost impossible to use on the move. I think VW efforts are on ID3 as soon as possible but in the meantime can they survive such obvious cost cutting whilst at the same time upping prices to such an extent that even on PCP many people are going to decide to move elsewhere.

SRGTD wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 9:43 am

lancslad1985 wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:32 am VW did confirm to me via Instagram the gti will be back but orders are currently full. Interestingly enough, it’s not just the gti that has vanished from the UK configurator - the SEL has gone now and the R-Line is only available in 95PS. Wonder if the facelift is coming early or if they just have filled order books with the reduced number of staff on the lines.

That’s interesting, and good news on the GTi.

I suppose the timing of the facelift depends on the product lifespan for the Polo. Typically, the lifespan of the Polo and Golf has been 7-8 years, with the ‘mid-life’ facelift around the four year point.

If VW’s longer term strategy for the future is electrification with some hybrids as a stop gap in the interim - and I dare say it is - then I suppose they may shorten the lifespan of existing models to bring their next generation (hybrid and electric) cars to market sooner than they have done in the past. Presumably factors such as payback period to cover development costs, break even point in the product lifecycle and hitting profit targets for the current model will be major considerations in determining the lifespan of a car, which will also influence the point at which it gets a ‘mid-life‘ facelift.

The current Polo was launched in Q4 2017, so its only just over 2.5 years since launch which seems a little early for a ‘mid-life’ facelift. I’d expect to see the facelift version in Q4 this year at the earliest, or if based on the timing of previous facelifts and product lifespans, the second half of next year. However, if VW aren’t taking new orders for the majority of the Polo range (is this UK only or other markets too, I wonder?), they may retool production facilities for the facelift model when they’ve cleared the existing orders. We are living in unusual times just now, so anything could happen.

Looking at the mk8 Golf, VW are describing it as an all new model, but to me, it looks like a heavily facelifted mk7.5. Comparing the ‘all new’ mk8 to the previous generation car, there seems to have been quite a lot of cost cutting and cheapening going on. I dare say VW’s cost cutting strategy will be carried through to the facelift version of the Polo, and if the Polo gets the Golf’s latest styling cues - the ugly front end, cheap facia with physical buttons and switches removed - I’m not sure I’d want a facelift Polo.

Interesting video at the link below on mk8 Golf cost cutting compared to the mk7.5 Golf. The reviewer is pretty honest with his views, so the video is quite interesting to watch;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X48c9lF ... e=youtu.be

Ima wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 10:16 am Yes that wouldn’t surprise me either. There are so many Polos on the road and for most people it’s big enough and there doesn’t seem to be a major quality or space reason to stump up such a significant cost rise to the golf. It’s looks are also rather divisive as is its interior even if time may help adjust. In the meantime Skoda doing a much better job on interiors these days as well as being much clearer on a value proposition. VW are seriously losing their way compared to their other brands.