There are very few models in the B segment that have the long history of the Volkswagen Polo. This is a legendary model that began production on March 20, 1984, no less than four decades ago. Now that its fortieth anniversary is being celebrated, the brand is taking the opportunity to give us some bittersweet news. And that is that the Polo says goodbye to the Landaben factoryin Navarra, where it had been produced from the beginning. It is moving to a new location and leaving room for other models.
It is a milestone for the Spanish industry, since since 1984 no less than 8,422,161 units of the Volkswagen Polo in its six generations. The last one has been a variant with a 1.0 TSI engine of 95 CV, manual transmission and Life finish. With that striking blue colour, it remains in Spain and has the honour of being the last one with national origin. From now on, the production of the German utility vehicle moves to the Kariega plant (South Africa), which will continue to serve the European market.
While the South African factory continues with combustion models Like the Polo (it was already the exclusive producer of the Polo GTI), electrification is being adapted in the Spanish facilities. Under the slogan “Thank you, Polo; hello, electric” they announce that they will arrive Two fully electric models by 2026. They will be one from Volkswagen and one from Skoda, both urban SUVs sharing a platform and taking the base price of 25,000 euros as a reference. At the same time, they will maintain the current prices they were making.
It should not be forgotten that, in addition to the Polo, the Volkswagen T-Cross and Taigo are also made at the Navarra plant. Both with the MQB A0 platform, already represented 80% of the factory’s production (50% are T-Cross, 30% Taigo and 20% were Polo). The next step will be to update the facilities to receive the two electric models, although everything is already quite ready. In fact, the Factory is prepared to produce flexibly combustion and electric models on the same production line to maintain productivity.
