2021 Volkswagen Polo facelift teased

The international spec 6th-generation Volkswagen Polo will soon get a mid-life makeover, with some minor changes to the exterior and interior design, along with some feature updates. The 2021 Polo will be unveiled on 22nd April. 

Volkswagen has released a teaser image of a refreshed Polo that is currently on sale in the international market. The German marque has confirmed that the 2021 model will be revealed on April 22, 2021.

In comparison to the model on sale currently, the teaser image reveals that the 2021 Polo will be fitted with restyled headlamps. The updated Polo will also get neat looking LED DRLs, positioned at the bottom of the headlights. Additionally, it also gets an LED strip that runs across the width of the front grille and blends into DRLs. There's another DRL in the headlamp unit, which could possibly double up as a turn indicator. 

International Spec Volkswagen Polo that will receive a facelift soon

The tail section of the 2021 Polo will also get some mild updates including a restyled set of tail lamps and a redesigned bumper. The cabin is likely to get new soft-touch elements. The mechanicals of the updated Polo is likely to be the same. And the hatchback could be offered with the same drivetrain options as before.

Picture of India spec Volkswagen Polo for reference

Why does the new hatchback pique our interest?

The 6th-generation Polo has been on sale in the international market for a while now, but Volkswagen has not yet launched it in India. This current generation avatar is based on the MQB platform, and that poses a few challenges with respect to its India launch. First, the international-spec model is longer than 4 metres, and if brought to India, it will lose the subsidies that sub-4 metre cars are entitled to. Secondly, until now, Volkswagen and Skoda cars based on the MQB platform were only brought to India via the CKD or CBU route. While this approach worked for premium and more expensive cars, it would make the Polo quite expensive in comparison to its rivals. 

With the Volkswagen Group's India 2.0 strategy, things are likely to change though. The German conglomerate has now heavily localised the MQB platform – christened in India as the MQB A0 IN – which also underpins cars like the upcoming VW Taigiun and Skoda Kushaq. In fact, Volkswagen has been vocal about evaluating a new Polo for India based on the heavily localised MQB A0 IN platform. While an official timeline hasn't been announced yet, we expect it to be at least 1.5 years away.           

Also Read:

Volkswagen Polo TSI Comfortline variant launched at Rs 7.41 lakh

Volkswagen Taigun interiors revealed