Volkswagen shares first look at new Polo GTI

Following the unveiling of the latest Polo supermini, Volkswagen has shared the first teaser of its sporty GTI model.

It’s been shared today ahead of what was supposed to be the 2021 GTI celebration weekend at Lake Worthersee, Austria. However, the event has been cancelled for the second year in a row because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Volkswagen says the GTI will take its traditional place as the flagship Polo, with more performance, improved driving dynamics and sportier styling than the regular models.

In the design sketch, the GTI gets a full-width LED light bar that sits beneath the grille, with the typical red GTI strip. Meanwhile, the lower grille has hexagonal shapes, which incorporate fog lights that are framed by sporty blades.

As expected, the Polo GTI will have front-wheel-drive, while the engine will be ‘high-torque’ in nature.

The seventh-generation Polo was revealed in April, with familiar yet sharper looks than its predecessor. For example, Matrix LED headlights are available on higher trims for the first time, so expect these to also be on the GTI.

Inside, there are digital dials as standard and a new control panel for the air conditioning buttons.

Orders open later this month for the regular model, but with the GTI not being revealed until late June, it’s unlikely this model will go on sale until later in the summer.