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Volkswagen Polo vs Hyundai Ioniq

What's the difference?

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Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo

$21,990 - $34,888

2022 price

Hyundai Ioniq
Hyundai Ioniq

$18,990 - $29,990

2021 price

Summary

2022 Volkswagen Polo
2021 Hyundai Ioniq
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Turbo 4, 2.0L

0.0L
Fuel Type
Premium Unleaded Petrol

Electric
Fuel Efficiency
6.5L/100km (combined)

0.0L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Solid service pricing
  • No rear centre armrest
  • No adjustable rear air vents

  • Feels very heavy
  • Design won't be for everyone
  • Still a little too pricey for mass adoption
2022 Volkswagen Polo Summary

The hot hatch wars, an on-going automotive conflict, fired up when Volkswagen lobbed a massive, Golf GTI-shaped salvo into an unsuspecting global car market in the middle of 1976.

Peugeot may have run a bold out-flanking manoeuvre with deployment of the 205GTi from the mid-1980s, and other skirmishes broke out soon after with the likes of Suzuki’s Swift GTi, but so far the German maker has retained majority ownership of those three little letters that mean so much.

Fast forward to 1995 and application of the GTI tag spread to the compact VW Polo, which close to three decades later brings us to the current, sixth-generation version.

It arrived in Australia in 2018, and four years down the track it’s time for an update, with subtle cosmetic tweaks and a significant safety upgrade included.

Volkswagen Australia invited us to the car’s local launch including a varied drive program, topped off with a hot-lap track session, to get a first taste of how it shapes up.

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Interested in a Volkswagen Polo?
2021 Hyundai Ioniq Summary

Hyundai's Ioniq range is nothing if not a flex in the face of Toyota.

Sure, Toyota has a dominating position in the Australian market, with its well-received range of hybrid models, but what happens after hybrid? Hyundai takes on the blocky Prius formula with not only a directly competing hybrid model, but a plug-in and a fully electric version, too.

This expansive range is as though Hyundai is trying to demonstrate it's ready for any future, near or far, and guess what, Toyota? Anything you can do; the Korean juggernaut thinks it can do better.

These cars aren't really designed to sell so much as they are offerings for early adopters, but a few years after its launch, with a host of rivals set to take it on, and an entire sub-brand based on the Ioniq just around the corner, is Hyundai's top-spec Ioniq electric  worth a look? I took one for a week to find out.

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Deep dive comparison

2022 Volkswagen Polo 2021 Hyundai Ioniq

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