Volkswagen Group Africa has marked a landmark achievement with the production of its 500,000th Polo for export. The milestone car, finished in Crystal Ice Blue and built in right-hand drive, is bound for the United Kingdom, one of the company’s most important overseas markets.
The current Polo has been in production at Plant Kariega since 2021. On average it takes three days and 1 985 sets of hands to build one Polo, with around 1 400 individual parts coming together to create this popular Volkswagen model.
Over the past 30 years, four generations of the Polo have been produced in Kariega, showing the plant’s long-standing stature of building this iconic model.
In 2024, Plant Kariega became the sole global exporter of the Polo to 38 international markets. Earlier this year, the Polo was voted “Best Small Car” in the 50th edition of Auto Motor und Sports Best Cars readers’ poll, which is the largest car reader survey in Europe. Additionally, the Polo was recently announced by CAR as the winner in the Small Cars segment in its 2026 Top 12 Best Buys.
The Polo remains a favourite in South Africa. At the point of achieving this milestone, VWGA had produced 2 044 761 Polos in Kariega. Of these, 596 631 were sold in the local market, while 1 448 130 have been exported. The current facelift Polo accounts for 51.2% of all Polos built for export since 1996.
Germany is now the biggest export market for the Polo, with 124 711 vehicles shipped between 2020 and 2026, followed closely by the United Kingdom at 113 171 units.
2026 is a special year for VWGA; not only does the company celebrate 75 years of building vehicles in South Africa, but it also marks 30 years of Polo production in Kariega.
“Reaching the milestone of producing the 500 000th current generation Polo is a proud moment for our Production and Logistics team,” says Ulrich Schwabe, VWGA Production Director. “This milestone shows the hard work, skill, and dedication of every employee at Plant Kariega. Our people have dedicated three decades to building and delivering this beloved vehicle to our customers, and these teams are the reason the Polo continues to shine, both here at home and across the world.”
