Volkswagen Polo: number one at the EuroCarBody2017 awards thanks to its bodywork

A few months ago we came across the sixth generation of the Polo and could see that the Volkswagen compact is no longer so small. The new Polo is considerably larger than its predecessors, both inside the cabin and on the outside. These greater dimensions are thanks to its new bodyshell, which has been awarded the EuroCarBody2017 prize. But it is not the first trophy the Polo has won: it was already named Car of the Year in 2010 with its previous generation.

The new Polo is built, as usual, at the facilities the German company has in Navarre. Engineers have developed the sixth-generation bodyshell using high-strength steels, adding considerable robustness to the compact. The new Polo aims to provide maximum safety for its occupants, and it achieves this with greater rigidity, better cornering and more stability than its predecessors.

The Polo’s bodyshell went up against as many as 11 other cars and came out on top, obtaining better results than the Nissan Micra and the Ford Fiesta. The bodyshells of the participating vehicles competed in two categories: Volume and Premium. The Polo managed to outperform vehicles from higher segments.

Within the EuroCarBody2017, the cars were assessed in five areas: efficient development and design concepts, material development and application, production efficiency, customer value and engineering-oriented presentation. The Polo’s success across all the tests is down to several factors. Karsten Heuer, Director of Planning Engineering at Volkswagen Navarra, explains that the key to its success was the good collaboration between the technical departments at Volkswagen Wolfsburg and all the areas of the Spanish factory.

The body shop manager at Volkswagen Navarra, Manuel García Bueno, says that to develop the robust bodyshell of the new Polo they follow a new process: first welding the inner structure and then adding the exterior panels. In this way they achieve greater rigidity, and joining the whole bodyshell becomes much simpler.

This makes the new Polo one of the safest compacts on the market and, at the same time, it incorporates all the latest technologies. Add to this a starting price of 14,740 euros, and the Polo can be positioned as one of the most desirable in its segment.

Technical specifications of this car

HatchbackVolkswagen Polo7 versions · from 22,325 €