First making its impromptu appearance at DRB-Hicom’s plant in Pekan during the Werkstour plant visit earlier this year, the facelifted locally-assembled Volkswagen Polo 1.6 Hatch has quietly made its way into showrooms, with some customers said to have already received their cars. We had a poke around Wearnes Automotive Sg Besi to get a closer look at what has changed on the lightly-upgraded Mk5.
From the front, the new front fascia is clear to see – the reshaped bumper features a downturned lower air intake with a Passat-esque full-width chrome strip and fog lights sitting in the upper corners.
The grille now has a chrome slat at the bottom rather than the two in the middle previously, while the carryover headlights (Indian-market versions get twin-reflector units previously seen on our CBU pre-facelift 1.2 TSI) have been given a smoked finish for a more refined look.
At the rear, the tail lights get more angular graphics, and the bumper has been reprofiled with reflectors on the bottom corners. The previous 15-inch “Riverside” alloy wheels have been retained, but are shod with Goodyear tyres instead of the old Indian-made Apollos.
Step inside and you’ll find a new Mk7 Golf-derived flat-bottomed steering wheel, now with phone controls on the previously blank right spoke. The centre console has also been given a new metal-like finish, and the seats have a new fabric upholstery pattern.
Otherwise, it’s business as usual – an RCD 320 head unit, four speakers, cruise control and Climatronic single-zone auto air-conditioning.
No change under the bonnet too, so there’s still a 105 PS/153 Nm 1.6 litre naturally-aspirated MPI four-pot, connected to an Aisin six-speed automatic transmission. This combination is shared with the also-CKD Polo Sedan, as before.
Safety kit remains unchanged as well, so unfortunately you still get just two airbags and no stability control, although ABS and rear Isofix child seat anchors remain standard.
The price stays the same as before, so the facelifted CKD Volkswagen Polo 1.6 Hatch retails at RM90,646 on-the-road excluding insurance but inclusive of 6% GST.
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No DSG, VW has learned, better ride.
U have updated ur older script. Now act VGM ppl already la, LOL!
kamon, bagi la ESP.
For rm90k pls buy something else with bigger boot, 6 airbags, traction control, ABS, EBD, satnav, etc.. other than this prehistoric with proton waja tech…
The wheel is 15″, not 16″…
Ah, apologies for the error, it has been amended. Thanks for pointing it out!
Call me old fashion but I will rather have 15″ wheels over 16″ wheels, you pay less for tyres when come time to change it. Besides, do you need ultra low profile 45 series tyres if, like me, you spend 95% of your driving time in K.L.’s congested & potholed roads??
I will take this anytime than those soft crab Japanese B-Segment like VIOS, City & Almera.
agreed….
I just don’t understand, why is it so hard to implement 6 air-bags, traction control and stability control as a standard safety pack? Even the cheapest Toyota Yaris sedan (Toyota Vios second generation in Malaysia) has 6 air-bags, Traction Control and ESC as standard.
http://www.toyota.com.au/yaris/range
Our ckd pack come from india with none of polo variant selling there equipped with vsc. Oh VGM also thought msian are dumb enough to buy this for the sake of german engineering… Well time will tell
Even VW are from Germany, but they adapted to M’sian culture which if the government don’t force we don’t do lor… I thought German always thought about safety first? Traction control should be standard in all vehicles in Germany. Right?
Boring and outdated.. in and out.
what facelift?
Volkswagen, this is the year of 2015 and not 1995. We Malaysians are smart, educated and sophisticated. We value life, please improve Polo’s safety equipments. Given after the two rempit myvi aftermath, I would rather sit in an Iriz than this.
90k for this POS? Crazy world we live in
Get the Fluence….better specced. Value for money. 5 yrs warranty and 5 yrs free labor and parts. Test drove it, good ride. Soft materials interior. Go check it out.
Ya, RM 15,555 after 5 years
Well, u seem like a mathematician. Perhaps your formula has been applied appropriately. Well done. I can only hope u r wrong.
Renault TC Euro salesman?
Who ever that guy is whether he is Renault salesman or not, he has a point.
Even though the car is an older model with Nissan techno and in some angle boring, the ride is quite smooth and, the gadgets and safety measures are cool for that money.
Yea true in 5 years, you wouldn’t even get back the interest you paid.
But it sure is worth considering.
I completely agree with you. Unfortunately you are spending a lot of money for a car.
Nope not a Renault salesman. Just that I have owned a Renault before and just got into owning a 2nd one. Perhaps a 3rd one when the Captur comes in. But pls don’t take my word for it. Go test drive and feel it. In any case, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Am just a happy owner sharing my thoughts.
You are very brave and a true motorhead. I applaud you for that. I have driven the R26 Megane, such a sweet civilized car.
My passat CC was in and out of workshop since 26th November 2104 for the same problem..(checked by German senior technician also).. Claimed for courtesy car, they said not enough courtesy car
If you think i was just unlucky, try to buy one…
then you will start to think like me that a Proton is better than a Volkswagen… at least someone could fix it….
Where is 6 airbags, ESP and 5 yr manufacturer warranty?
Booooooooooooooooooo~
I hope you’re right. U gotta win lottery in “2104” to buy Passat…
What kind of problem you facing? does the German technician help to solve your problem? o.0
This is a RM90K car and i’m sure you can give us a more exiciting looking cabin and better quality interiors. Some may mistakenly think they are sitting in a proton if not for the VM logo on the steering.
I’m actually quite surprised they didn’t put ESP in. Bar the Vios (it’s rubbish anyway), every other B segment that is not from Perodua (heck even Proton’s one has it), has ESP as standard or on most of the volume sellers.
What a pity because the Polo is probably one of the more premium looking and somewhat OK driving ones…
Well…its a quiet launch coz nth has changed except for some cosmetic makeup.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs should intervene to stop VGM from abusing consumers unlucky enough to buy VW cars. German engineering my foot! Ptui!!
Why are you guys asking for ESP and 6 airbags? Polo is a cheap low end model in Europe for the low income group. Of course it is marketed to Malaysians as a premium car at a premium price. There are much better deals around for RM90K and you don’t have to put up with VW’s famous unreliability and masuk workshop for months. Please make sure VW is not the only car in your family and you have enough annual leave to spend at their SC.
The Polos in Europe all have a minimum of 6 airabgs and ESC.
for me, the price is not caused of premium car range. it’s because it’s imported car. even ckd, it’s still imported the parts. just assembled here. so that’s why the price is high if compared with local car. same goes to japan or korea cars. haha. im just had one red polo and so far, i’m not masuk workshop for months. my red polo always being nice to me.
This is quite a half-assed effort by VGM, why they did’nt make it a proper upgraded & facelifted version – where are the LED lamps & upgraded infotainment/control/safety system of the latest Polo?? VGM should offer these options!!
what u mean didn’t make a proper upgraded? see the price bro. depends on what u’ve paid. not even vw, i guess all car manufactures did this. u paid more, u got more. like u built a pc, more powerful spec, more money u had to paid. haha
Em i sure previous CKD polo have 4 airbags. Can reconfirm back Paultan? or did they just reduce the airbag on this facelift, which i dont think so.
only sedan have 4 airbags, ckd hatchback always come with 2 only
Is this car?
I’ve bought this car face lifted model, it brought me endless problem since first bought, the fueL consumption is too high, Full tank will never up to 400KM. this might be the first issue on polo 1.6 ckd. kindly update anyone of owner facing the same problem?
What the price for polo 1.6.I mean on the road price?