Motoring

Copper-clad ‘concept’ Volkswagen Polo revealed at Kyalami F.o.M

Case study Volkswagen Polo Copper revealed

Originally supposed to debut at the media day of the Kyalami Festival of Motoring on Thursday (29 August), Volkswagen used the event’s public showing over the weekend to unveil what it calls a case study version of the Polo called the Copper Pack.

Public voting

Developed locally at Volkswagen’s Kariega Plant, the Copper Pack, as its name points indicates, adds copper exterior trim pieces inside and out without impacting on the Polo’s powertrain.

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A model that calls upon members of the public to voice their opinion using a QR code provided at the Volkswagen stand, the copper finishes feature on the mirror caps and on the 16-inch Valencia alloy wheels.

*_{Pinstriping at the rear makes up the only addition to the facia.}*

Elsewhere, darkened privacy glass been fitted, the roof pained gloss black and copper decals added to the base of the rear doors.

*_{Coloured-coded mirror caps have been replaced by copper items.}*

A copper pinstripe between the taillight clusters and a copper decal on the dashboard on the passenger’s side rounds the package off.

*_{A copper finish has been given to the 16-inch alloy wheels.}*

In total, scanning the QR code reveals a choice of seven colours the copper accents have been matched to; Pure White, Ascot Grey, Reflex Silver, Smokey Grey, Reef Blue, Deep Black Pearl and Cristal Ice Blue.

Positioning

Although showcased at the festival modelled on the 85 kW Life as per the seven-speed DSG gearbox, eventual approval would see the Copper Package being rolled on the entry-level 70 kW Polo equipped with the five-speed manual gearbox.

*_{Only change to the interior is the Copper decal on the dashboard.}*

Set, therefore, to plug the price gap between the base’s R357 500 and the Life’s R401 400, the Copper Package is unlikely to add any other specification items to the base Polo, however, this could still change once production gets approval.

New Tiguan

Besides the Copper Package, the all-new Tiguan made its first public showing ahead of its market debut early next month.

Supposed to have gone on-sale at the end of last year, but pushed back to the second half of 2024, the third generation Tiguan will seemingly farewell the long serving 1.4 TSI engine in favour of the 1.5 TSI Evo, albeit without the 48-volt mild-hybrid system offered in Europe.

*_{All-new Tiguan made its first public appearance at the festival.}*

While also not expected to offer the plug-in hybrid eHybrid, the latest generation 2.0 TDI could be introduced, with the unveiling of a second generation Tiguan R still to happen.

New across all models will be the new column-shift seven-speed DSG gearbox, with confirmed local market specification items comprising the new 12.9-inch and 15-inch infotainment systems, the latest Matrix I.Q. LED headlights, the 12.3-inch Digital Cockpit Pro instrument cluster, Head-Up Display, ambient lighting and massaging seats.