VW to Export Russian Polo to Middle East

VIENNA – Volkswagen plans to begin exporting the Russian-made VW Polo sedan to the Middle East next year.

“The vehicle fits in perfectly with this particular market, because it is a sedan,” Marcus Osegowitsch, managing director of Volkswagen Group Rus, tells WardsAuto.

Polo production started at the Volkswagen Group Rus plant in Kaluga in spring 2010.

“Exports to the Middle East could begin in the middle of next year,” Osegowitsch says. “The exact markets have not yet been determined.”

While the Russian VW Polo sedan and Renault cars produced at the Avtoframos plant in Moscow already are exported to Belarus, Ukraine or Kazakhstan, the Polo shipments to the Middle East will mark the first time a foreign car maker will be exporting Russian-made cars to markets outside of the Commonwealth of Independent States countries.

Volkswagen also assembles the VW Tiguan cross/utility vehicle and Skoda Fabia and Octavia cars from complete-knocked-down kits in Kaluga, but there are no plans to use the Russian plant as an export base for the other models.

The Polo sedan currently is manufactured only in Russia and India, where it is badged as the VW Vento.