Facelifted 2021 Volkswagen Polo On Sale In UK From £17,885

Volkswagen’s Polo supermini is on sale and waiting for orders in the UK, where it starts at £17,885.

The Golf’s little brother never ranks as the sexiest or most fun of the subcompact crowd, and the Mk8 Golf-inspired styling changes to the lights and grille introduced for the facelift don’t change that. But the Polo is consistently near the top of the sale charts, and the 2021 model-year car brings some subtle revisions and more luxury equipment to help keep it there.

Kicking off the range is the entry-level Polo Life, the only version to dip below £18k, and the only one not packing a turbo. That means it makes do with a 79 hp (80 PS) naturally aspirated 1.0-liter triple that takes a forever 15.5 seconds to get to 62mph.

Adding £940 adds a blower and 15 hp, slashing almost 5 seconds off the 62mph time, actually improves fuel economy, and nets you VW’s Travel Assist package of electronic safety features. Sounds like a no-brainer to us.

Related: 2021 VW Polo’s Golf-Look Facelift Brings Matrix LED Lights, Digital Instruments And Big-Car Safety Tech

All Life models get a digital gauge cluster, 8.0-inch touchscreen, power-folding and heated door mirrors, plus rain-sensing wipers, which VW thinks will be enough to keep 75 percent of Polo buyers happy.

But for those wanting a little more, the range then forks, one route adding more luxury, the other geared to deliver a sports flavor. Appealing to the luxury camp there’s the £20,785 Polo Style, which mates the 94 hp 1.0 TSI motor exclusively with a five-speed manual ‘box. The Convenience kit includes LED matrix headlights, parking sensors, a bigger 10.25-inch digital gauge pack and an improved touchscreen.

Or for the same £20,875, you can head down the R-Line path. The engine is unchanged, but you get a choice of manual or DSG transmissions, fake quad exhausts, more aggressive body styling, sports seats, and the Style’s electronic interior upgrades.

Going R-Line also unlocks a 109 hp (110 PS) version of the TSI engine, but that’ll cost you £23,355 and comes only with the DSG. With a zero to 62mph time of 10.4 seconds, it’s the quickest Polo you can currently buy, though despite the R branding it’s not exactly hot hatch material.

For that, you’ll have to wait a little longer for the recently revealed facelifted Polo GTI to make it to showrooms. An unchanged 2.0-liter turbo-four makes 204 hp (207 PS) and sends the GTI to 62mph in 6.5 seconds. Prices are still TBC. As for a genuine Polo R, forget it. VW says it’s not interested, even if you are.