500 000th Current-Gen VW Polo Produced at Plant Kariega in SA

Volkswagen Group Africa is celebrating a new production milestone, with the German marque’s local arm announcing the 500 000th facelifted current-generation Polo has been built at its Plant Kariega facility in South Africa.

Volkswagen Polo at Plant Kariega

Image: Volkswagen

Earlier in October 2025, Volkswagen Group Africa announced the three-millionth car built at Plant Kariega has rolled off the assembly line. Now the German marque’s local arm is celebrating another milestone – production of the 500 000th facelifted current-generation Polo since the introduction of this model in August 2021. Of the half-a-million units, 452 207 were built for export, with the remaining 47 793 produced for local consumption.

Since the Wolfsburg brand started building Polos at Plant Kariega in 1996, a whopping 1 992 464 units of this popular hatchback has been built in South Africa. And since 2024, the Polo hatchback, including its GTI sibling, has been exclusively produced at this facility. In addition, according to the automaker, the Polo was South Africa’s most exported vehicle in 2024.

“The role of the Polo in the Volkswagen Group Africa success story has been a strong one, and the same can be said of its contribution to this country’s automotive exports,” said Ulrich Schwabe, Production Director at VWGA. “I am proud to share in this milestone with the colleagues who build, sell and export this high-quality car to the world.”

In addition, speaking to CAR Magazine at 2025 IAA Mobility, Thomas Schäfer, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, told us the SA-built Polo will remain in production into the next decade.

As a reminder, the Polo Vivo budget-oriented hatchback, of which the firm recently introduced the Edition 15 special edition, is also built in South Africa and, from 2027, production of the third Plant Kariega-built Volkswagen – the Tengo entry-level compact crossover – will kick off.

Click here to browse thousands of new and used vehicles here with CARmag!

The post 500 000th Current-Gen VW Polo Produced at Plant Kariega in SA appeared first on CAR Magazine.


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