Volkswagen unveils new version of Polo subcompact

Frankfurt: Volkswagen is unveiling a new version of its Polo subcompact, the sixth edition of a car that has sold 14 million units since it was introduced in 1975. The new Polo is slightly larger than the previous model and offers safety and driver assistance systems previously available on larger cars.

Those include blind spot detection, which gives a warning in the exterior mirror if vehicles are in the car's blind spot while overtaking. Rear traffic alert can detect cross traffic behind the car while backing out of a parking space. The car will be available with six different gasoline engines and one that runs on compressed natural gas. The two available diesels will come with an emissions control system known as selective catalytic reduction, or SCR.

That's a different emissions control system than the one involved in Volkswagen's diesel scandal over cars from earlier model years rigged to cheat on emissions tests. Vehicles with SCR inject a solution from a refillable tank into the exhaust stream to remove harmful nitrogen oxides.

The car is to go on sale later this year at a base price of 12,975 euros (USD 14,500) in Germany. The vehicle isn't coming to the United States. The company showed off the new vehicle at an event in Berlin rather than wait for September's Frankfurt auto show.