Peter Lyon
May 1, 2025
Volkswagen’s diehard super-compact, the inimitable Polo, is celebrating in 50th birthday this year. Born in 1975, it burst onto the scene with the catchphrase “Small on the outside. Big on the inside.”
This was the slogan used by Volkswagen 50 years ago to advertise its latest product at the time, the Polo. When the small supermini came on the market in early May 1975, nobody expected that the extremely compact two-door vehicle would become a bestseller – nationally and internationally, over five decades and six generations, with several prestigious awards, and with more than 20 million units sold.
Polo stands for affordable entry-level mobility. When the first new Polos were on sale at dealerships, they were part of a new Volkswagen model family that dominated the streets in the early 1970s. In the spring of 1975, the Polo followed the Passat (1973) and Golf (1974) of the then still young water-cooled model generation, which succeeded the VW Beetle.
Throughout six model generations, it is clear that the overall concept – consisting of a fair price-performance ratio, high utility value, pioneering technology for the small hatch class and, of course, its endearing design – is still popular today and has made the model a bestseller. In addition, the Polo has succeeded in shaping the supermini segment for decades. Recognition from national and international media includes awards such as Car of the Year 2010, World Car of the Year 2010 and World Urban Car 2018.
Volkswagen has applied its colorful Harlequin livery to a championship-winning Polo R WRX as part of its celebrations for the legendary car’s 50th anniversary. See below.
It was also named ‘Best Car of the Half Century’ by the Best Cars of the Year judging panel earlier this year. This award recognizes the Polo’s consistent reliability, affordability, and iconic status over its 50-year history.
What began as a simple two-door vehicle in 1975 has been tweaked and honed over five decades into a total of six generations–as a hatchback Polo, as a coupé, as a sporty G40 or GTI, as a colourful Harlequin, as an estate, a notchback with the name Derby, a CrossPolo with a striking off-road look, as an efficient Polo BlueMotion and, of course, as an extremely dynamic Polo R WRC, which was crowned with four World Championship titles in the World Rally Championships from 2013 to 2016.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
The Polo certainly deserves its ‘Best Car of the Half Century’ gong given its ability to maintain a strong street presence and brand image over 5 decades while selling some 20 million units. Series production of the Polo I began in March 1975 at Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, with 1.1 million units being produced there by 1981. As the model increased in importance, production spread to other locations around the world, including Spain, Argentina, South Africa, Slovenia, China, Brazil and India. With more than 20 million units built, the Polo is one of the world’s most successful small compact vehicles.
