VW Polo Sedan Debuts in Russia

MOSCOW — The redesigned Volkswagen Polo sedan, built in Russia and designed specifically to withstand Russian roads and Russian winters, made its world debut at an exclusive gathering of high rollers here. Prices start at just over $12,000.

The four-door Polo is fitted in Russia with a 103-horsepower, 1.6-liter gasoline engine, which can be coupled with either a five-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed Tiptronic.

VW said the new car has been designed with a more rugged suspension and special paint and chrome parts.

The Polo sedan is being assembled at VW's Kaluga plant. It will be marketed in Russia in three trim levels: Trendline, Comfortline and Highline.

Although VW execs last year said the new Polo would come to the U.S. in 2011, VW of America spokeswoman Jill Bratina on Thursday told Inside Line: "There are no plans for the Polo in the U.S. Our Puebla [Mexico] plant will be focused on production of the NCS beginning this year, and the New Beetle successor next year."

Bratina was referring to the new compact sedan that will be officially unveiled later this month and goes into production this summer at the Puebla plant as the 2011 successor to the Jetta.

Inside Line says: For the time being, the NCS is expected to anchor the low end of VW's product portfolio in North America. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent