It doesn’t seem that long ago that almost every car manufacturer sold a compact hatchback in the supermini segment, yet today, the Volkswagen Polo seems to be one of the few remaining players in a shrinking market.
Small cars are still popular, but more so these days when they’re loftier compact SUVs. VW itself has embraced the development with two such Polo-based models — the more practical T-Cross and the sleeker Taigo.
Since the demise of the previously ubiquitous Ford Fiesta and several other names that were once commonplace on UK streets, VW has not had it all its own way.
Yes, when this sixth-generation Polo made its appearance at the end of 2017, we thought it so good that it immediately became the class leader. Competition improves the breed, though, so while it’s hardly an also-ran, there’s stiff competition from the Peugeot 208, Renault Clio, Skoda Fabia and Vauxhall Corsa, among a flurry of others.
Not that this incarnation appeared to be as new as it really was — at first glance, you may have mistaken it for the Mk5 Volkswagen Polo it replaced, such was the evolutionary nature of its styling.
That momentary confusion is one of the hallmarks of an extraordinarily successful model, because the manufacturers of such vehicles know that they alter a successful recipe at their extreme peril.
