Market planners at Volkswagen massively underestimated how British motorists would react to a new super-economy hatchback.

Sales predictions for the low-emission Polo BlueMotion diesel model have proved to be wide of the mark, it was revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Volkswagen UK director Paul Willis said: “On the advice of our team we ordered 900 units to cover this year and 2,000 for next year. To say we got it wrong is an understatement – we have already taken more than 1,400 orders and the car isn’t available yet.

“At least we’ve learned from the experience by securing around 7,000 examples of the Passat and Golf BlueMotion versions that become available next year – but that figure may still prove to be too low.”

On sale from next month, the Polo avoids VED by emitting only 99g/km of CO2.

“One firm wanted the whole of our 2008 allocation but we refused because it would have kept the car from private motorists,” added Mr Willis.

The rest of the manufacturer’s line-up is also selling strongly, with Volkswagen on course to achieve more than 230,000 annual car sales in Britain by 2011.

Volkswagen is expected to account for an all-time record of 32,500 registrations this month alone, believes Mr Willis.

He said Volkswagen sales would drive through the 200,000 mark in the UK next year as a result of higher demand rather than marketing incentives.

Mr Willis added: “We’re building the cars that people want and finding it hard to keep pace with demand. It’s remarkable that we’re sitting on an order bank of 44,000 vehicles – only a few years ago we would have regarded that figure as unthinkable.”