Volkswagen Group Africa (VWGA) has announced the one-millionth sixth-generation Polo has been produced at its Kariega production facility in the Eastern Cape. This comes after the 500 000th unit built for export rolled off the production line in April. Local production of the sixth-generation Polo kicked off in 2017, and VWGA has been manufacturing four generations of the popular hatchback since 1996.

Finished in Smoky Grey exterior paint, the one-millionth Polo is a right-hand-drive GTI, destined for the South African market. The current-generation Polo makes up almost half of all Polos ever produced at Plant Kariega, as well as around a fifth of the 4 803 424 vehicles built at this factory over the past 75 years. It will also continue to build up to a significant portion of cars as it will remain in production here into the next decade, VW confirmed to us.

Around 86% of this iteration was exported to international markets like the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, while 14% were built for the local market. Germany and the UK are the biggest export destinations for the locally-built Polo, and Plant Kariega is currently the only manufacturer in the world and exporter of this model to 38 countries.

This is not the only achievement by VW’s local assembly plant. VWGA celebrated three decades of Polo production in February, and the two-millionth locally made Polo rolled off the Plant Kariega production line in November 2025.

As a reminder, the VW Polo claimed top honours in the ‘Small car’ category at CAR magazine’s 2026 Top 12 Best Buys awards.

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The post VW South Africa celebrates one-millionth sixth-generation Polo built at Plant Kariega appeared first on CAR Magazine.

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