Polo GTI sold out for 12 months, more cars coming

Volkswagen Australia can’t get enough of a good thing. Its Polo GTI hot hatch has a waiting list to match Ferrari – up to 12 months.

The bargain-priced pocket-rocket, which starts below $30,000, has the looks and pace to match its big brother Golf GTI.

But since being launched in Australia in November 2010, the queue of customers has stretched out the door.

“Some of our customers have to wait 12 months right now for the Polo GTI, not only in our country but a lot of countries,” the managing director of VW Australia, Anke Koeckler, told Motoring.com.au.

“We are working on [increased production] next year to get a better supply and get more cars into the country. It’s not specific to Australia, it’s such a big success all over the world.”

Ms Koeckler said reducing the Polo GTI’s waiting list was one of her company’s biggest priorities, so it established a department to keep customers updated.

“We are working with a waiting program so we inform the customers actively together with the dealer. What’s important right now is to tell the customers the truth. It’s taking 12 months right now, [but] if it will be shortened we will let [them] know.”

The department tells customers when their car “gets a confirmation, what stage the car will be produced, when it gets on the ship, when it will arrive in Australia, when it arrives at the dealer”.

Ms Koeckler said that although there were approximately 500 vehicles on order she did not expect to lose any customers due to the long wait.

“I think we are not losing them, [in some cases] they are going for the other models above GTI. It’s not bad for the brand. I’m more happy to be one car short than one car [over].”

She said the Golf R also had a long waiting list, of between four and five months.

“Our customers like to order their car. [Other brands] have low complexity,” she said. Waiting four or five months “that’s a normal time”.

The waiting list program was established on the Tiguan compact SUV launched in August 2008.

The Polo GTI waiting list follows a trend of Volkswagen’s in-demand performance hatchbacks. The previous generation Golf GTI, launched in May 2005, had a waiting list of up to eight months in its first two years on sale.

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