I spotted a Volkswagen Polo hatchback in a parking lot in south Beijing. At first glance, the Polo looked abandoned, but a closer look showed that it was still in use. This particular Volkswagen Polo stands out with its bright red paint, simple steel wheels, and rare white license plates.
The Shanghai-Volkswagen joint venture, later renamed to SAIC-Volkswagen, launched the Mk4 Volkswagen Polo in 2004 in China in sedan and five-door hatchback forms. The four round headlights dominated the Polo’s design. At the time, Volkswagen was the most popular mass-market brand in China, and the Polo was its most popular car.
The white license plates
Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen issued white license plates for passenger cars in 2002 and 2003 as part of an experiment where citizens could create their own alphabetical/numerical combinations.
The experiment ended after citizens got too creative, choosing combinations like “sex,” “CIA,” “FBI,” and the infamous “USA-911”, which appeared on a Beijing car after the September 11 attacks in New York.
Authorities then canceled the experiment but allowed owners to keep the non-offensive plates. The Volkswagen Polo has 京A 568-ADA. 京 is short for 北京, Běijīng.
The interior of the Volkswagen Polo
The owner added Garfield-themed seat covers. Garfield was a popular cartoon in China in the 2000s. There was Garfield-everything, all sorts of toys, stationery, books, phone covers, and, like here, seat covers for cars.
Of course, the original right-holder of the Garfield cartoon didn’t have much of a say in all of this, if at all… Well, that’s how China rolled at that time!
Specifications
Volkswagen offered the Mk4 Polo with various engines. This one has the 1.4 under the hood, mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. The output of the engine was 75 hp (55 kW) and 126 Nm. It had a 170 km/h top speed and 0-100 took a relaxing 14.8 seconds. Size: 3897/1650/1465, 2460, with a 1140 kg curb weight.
Price of the Volkswagen Polo
Characters: 上海大众, Shànghǎi Dàzhòng, Shanghai Volkswagen.
In 2004, the Mk4 Volkswagen Polo with the 1.4-liter engine and the 5-speed manual gearbox sold for exactly 99.900 yuan, and that was a good deal for Chinese consumers.
At the time, only a few automakers offered small and relatively affordable hatchbacks. Volkswagen had basically half of the market for itself. How times have changed today! Anyway. The Mk4 model sold extremely well, and it has proven to be a strong little car, because even today, a lot of them are still around.