By: IOL Motoring Staff
An all-new Volkswagen Polo is set to hit the scene in 2017 and this is how automotive rendering specialist Theophilus Chin envisions it'll look.
Chin's renderings paint the likely stylistic evolution that VW's small hatch is likely to take, with a shape that's familiar-looking yet more sculpted around the shoulder line and with a front end that takes cues from VW's latest concept cars and the larger Passat sedan.
While the exterior avoids any major departures, it will be a very different car beneath the skin, as the 2017 Polo will be built on the company's MQB modular platform that will eventually underpin almost all front-wheel-drive VeeDubs. The architecture saves both weight and cost.
The new Polo will also reportedly be a bit bigger than the today's car, and consequently more spacious, while a glut of new technologies and driver aids will inevitably filter down from the Golf and Passat.
As for the engine range, we have it on good authority that we will see more versions of the 1-litre three-cylinder turbopetrol engine which, in South Africa at least, is currently only fitted to the fuel-saving BlueMotion model.
Like the current version, the new Polo is set to be built in South Africa for both local consumption and export, as part of a R4.5 billion investment that was announced earlier this year. The new model will also have a higher local content than the current model's 72 percent.