Volkswagen Polo Style saunters in

Volkswagen Group Australia has today announced the Volkswagen Polo Style, a new variant of the German brand’s smallest model that that includes the highly sought-after digital dashboard, wireless phone charging and a seven-speed automatic transmission as standard equipment.

Priced from $24,990 plus on-road costs, the new variant of the light five-door hatchback goes on sale in Australia from August 2019 and expands the current Volkswagen Polo range from three to four model grades.

Slotting in underneath the Polo GTI ($31,990) and above the Trendline ($18,790) and Comfortline ($20,290), the VW Polo Style is being pitched as a 'premium package'.

The headline act is the brand's high-end Active Info Display (AID), a fully digital instrument cluster evolved from Audi's virtual cockpit. The high-tech instrument cluster allows users to customise what is presented, from the usual dials to maps and navigation. Volkswagen says the Polo Style offers AID "at its cheapest price point to date".

The VW Polo Style also adds the 300W Beats-branded top-end audio system as standard equipment, along with an 8.0-inch centrally-mounted infotainment screen and the abovementioned wireless phone charging.

Rolling on 'Las Minas' 16-inch alloy wheels, the Style also benefits from LED tail-lights and tinted rear/side windows.

With exception of the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol Polo GTI, the Polo Style is powered by the same 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine (85kW/200Nm) as the rest of the range. It drives the front wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch (DSG) automatic transmission.

The VW Polo Style gets several automated functions as standard, such as rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlights, auto-dimming rear-view mirror and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection.

Convenience features that come standard with the new Polo model grade include sports seats with premium cloth upholstery, a front centre armrest, tyre pressure monitoring, a reversing camera, a leather steering wheel festooned with buttons, a split/folding rear seat, Bluetooth connectivity and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

In total the Polo gets four USB ports while cruise control, dual-zone climate control and power windows and wing mirrors (the latter heated) are also fitted as standard equipment.

There are option packs, including the Driver Assistance package ($1500) which adds a blind-spot monitoring system, rear traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, park assist, power folding wing mirrors and a proactive occupant protection system.

The R-Line ($1500) package is not offered as the car already rides on 16-inch alloy wheels, but it downside is that customers who want the sports suspension and body kit miss out.

Metallic and pearl effect paint will add $500 to the cost of the car.

Although the Volkswagen Polo is considerably more expensive than its compact car rivals, such as the Suzuki Swift, Toyota Yaris and Mazda2, it still sells in relatively strong numbers.

It commanded an 8.5 per cent market share of the light car segment with 1828 sales in the first four months of this year. Although that number is down around seven per cent on Polo sales during the same period last year, it’s not far behind the Honda Jazz (1991) and Kia Rio (2186).

The top-seller in the segment is the soon-to-be-axed Hyundai Accent, which will be replaced by the all-new Hyundai Venue compact SUV, with 4407 sales so far this year.

Backed by a five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty, 12 months of roadside assistance and the availability of capped-price servicing, the Volkswagen Polo Style will be available in Australia from August.

How much does the 2019 Volkswagen Polo cost?
Trendline 85TSI 1.0 manual – $18,790
Comfortline 85TSI 1.0 manual – $20,290
Style 85TSI 1.0 automatic – $24,990
GTI 147TSI 2.0 automatic – 31,990
* Prices exclude on-road costs