Jeremiah Clarkson | Why I Will Not Miss The Dreadful VW Polo

It looks as though the European Union is making my dreams come true. Long Have I glimpsed into the future, long have I seen it without the VW Polo at the helm… of the helm… Apparently VW boss Tomas Schafer says the latest Euro 7 regulations (which basically orders car manufacturers to make less polluting cars) are set to be so tough that it won’t be worth the time or the money to comply. You have to understand that VW often speaks out both sides of its corporate mouth. For over 25 years Volkswagen advertised how efficient and environmentally friendly its cars were. Dieselgate revealed VW’s marketing, like all marketing, was just a big fat fabricated lie.

VW’s lies led to the EU holding aloft the bureaucratic sledgehammer and mandating a shift to electric cars. Every standard to lower car emissions since 2015 has become tougher and tougher. Petrol and diesel cars by their very petroleum-based nature will never be able to meet the EU’s zero-emissions target by 2035.  The latest EU 7 regulation is tough, so tough that it is causing Volkswagen’s accountants to wake up in a cold sweat and scream out in howls of despair in the middle of the night.

VW’s CEO recently said that the latest EU7 emissions regulation will add to the development costs, and small cars such as the Polo will become too expensive. That means the Polo will become obsolete, production will end and with it so will the misery. Oh joy, hallelujah, praise be the merciful lord for he hath listened. The truth is the VW Polo was already on its last legs, it has become a joyless plastic bucket, a cost-cutting exercise with a starting price of £18K. You’re better off buying an actual plastic bucket than a Volkswagen Polo.

But the motoring journalist community helped VW keep up the facade by awarding the Polo with 4-star praise it never deserved. Instead of blaming EU emissions regulators, VW should look at themselves and realize they are the cause and not the solution. VW is Anakin Skywalker. But the weird thing is, VW says that the Polo would become unaffordable if it did meet EU 7 regulations, so the alternative is to make an EV hatch, but wouldn’t that be just as expensive, if not more?

Something tells me VW’s current boss is speaking out of both sides of his mouth. Here are the facts, annual sales of the VW Polo are declining and VW has stopped selling it in various international markets. The demand cycle is over for the VW Polo, and I for one will never shed a tear for this pile of marketing over reality.