Volkswagen Polo Playa

The Volkswagen Polo Playa was a supermini produced and sold in South Africa. From 1998 until 2002 it was a rebadged SEAT Ibiza Mk2 five-door hatchback, sold while the separate Polo Mk3 served most other markets with different body panels but shared mechanical components. Together with its four-door sedan equivalent, the Polo Classic, which was based on the SEAT Córdoba Mk1, it was the first generation of Polo sold in South Africa. The Polo Mk4 replaced it in 2002, although the Playa name stayed on the Polo hatchback in South Africa until 2006. Three models were offered, the 1.4i, 1.6i and 1.8i, all with a five-speed manual gearbox only. The name means beach in Spanish and alludes to the Spanish Ibiza it was based on.