VW Polo sedan bypasses us

The early global success of the company's Polo hatch is not convincing enough for Volkswagen Australia to add a just-launched Russian-built sedan to the line-up.  VW Australia spokesman, Karl Gehling, says a just-launched Polo sedan is not destined for Australia.  "We have no plans at this stage to bring it in," he says.

The German carmaker will soon start building Polo sedans at a new Russian assembly plant in Kaluga. The car will also be built in India, where it will be called the Vento.

From the front, the sedan adopts the hatch's styling but gets a 50mm longer wheelbase, which frees up more rear legroom and a large conventional boot.  VW Australia's decision not to add a sedan goes against some Japanese brands who are carving out respectable sales with sedan versions of their light hatches.

Mazda has just introduced a sedan version of its 2 and Honda sells the Jazz-based City sedan locally.  Ford is also considering plans to expand its Fiesta hatch range with a sedan when it starts sourcing the car from Thailand later this year.

For Russia, the Polo sedan gets a 77kW 1.6-litre engine with either a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic, missing out on the DSG gearbox.  Like the hatch, it has similar safety levels.  Volkswagen has also engineered it to cope with harsher Russian conditions, including widely varying petrol quality.

The company conducted long-term tests in different Russian climate zones as well as its poor roads.  The suspension, exterior chrome trim and paint quality are particularly robust.

VW briefly sold a Polo sedan here back in 2004 and 2005.  The company was the first carmaker to source cars from China to test the waters for global sourcing from the emerging Communist country.

It brought in a few hundred Chinese-built sedans to test buyer reaction.  However its $23,990 entry price, lack of an automatic and lacklustre build quality ended its hopes to become a mainstream player.