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It’s long been rumoured, but yesterday, Volkswagen’s plans for a 2012 entry into the World Rally Championship (WRC) were made a little more public. Expected to confirm a team for the 2012 series by the end of the month, Autocar, Autosport and Auto Express in the UK have all pointed to that entry being, excitingly, Polo-based. An announcement on the 1.6-litre direct-injection turbocharged Polo WRC is expected to be given an an event celebrating VW’s Dakar Rally victory on 22 March, or at the start of Rally Portugal, which is being staged from 24-27 March 2011.

Why the Polo? Reports suggest that the Scirocco (which was in hot contention to be VW’s WRC challenger) exceeds the WRC’s width restrictions, and with rivals from Citroën and Ford based on the DS3 and Fiesta superminis respectively, a Polo would make much more sense. Sources state that the new engine is based on the unit for the forthcoming Polo R, but as Volkswagen has continually denied that that car actually exists, the new four-pot may well have been exclusively developed to take advantage of the new 1600cc-based WRC rules, which came into play this season.

Volkswagen would more than likely launch a limited assault on the 2012 WRC championship, before committing to a full series in 2013, just as Mini has done this year. Reports state that the company has been busy trying to secure a leading driver (Sebastian Loeb was mooted, but he couldn’t be prised away from Citroën), and current Intercontinental Rally Championship driver Juho Hannien looks to be in the frame. Other notable bodies involved in the project are Volkswagen Dakar driver and rally superhero Carlos Sainz, and ex-Citroën and Subaru engineer Francois-Xavier Demaison. The last works Polo rally car was the Super 1600, first announced in 2002.

The Polo has enjoyed a successful start to 2011 in terms of UK sales, and February’s figures point to it keeping up that momentum. The latest stats released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show the Polo is the eighth best-selling car in the country. While the Polo only dropped one place from January’s position, the larger Golf lead February’s charts from the Vauxhall Corsa and the Ford Focus. With a less than expected market fall, sales of 63,424 cars were not far off the same scrappage-boosted period last year. ‘February new car registrations were better than expected and while below 2010 levels, they were significantly ahead of 2009 and on an improving trend,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for February 2011 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Volkswagen Golf: 2709 units (6819, 4th)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 2617 units (6980, 3rd)
3 Ford Focus: 2483 units (10,065, 1st)
4 Ford Fiesta: 2404 units (8248, 2nd)
5 Vauxhall Astra: 2036 units (6546, 5th)
6 Vauxhall Insignia: 1842 units (4078, 7th)
7 Vauxhall Zafira: 1705 units (3343, 10th)
8 Volkswagen Polo: 1570 units (4580, 6th)
9 = Nissan Qashqai: 1367 units (3475, 9th)
9 = Vauxhall Meriva: 1367 units

(The 2011 best-seller absent from February’s sales figures is the BMW 3 Series selling 4038 units in 8th place.)

The Polo has been announced winner of the 2011 Wesbank/SAGMJ Car of the Year, a title it shares with the BMW 530d. Both cars were declared winners at a gala dinner in Midrand on Tuesday 8 March. The Volkswagen Golf won the honour in 2010. ‘Volkswagen Group South Africa is delighted to have the new Polo named as the winner of the 2011 South African Car of the Year. This is an immense recognition of the Volkswagen brand following Golf’s win in 2010,’ said David Powels, Managing Director, Volkswagen Group South Africa (pictured centre, in photograph above).

‘We would like to dedicate this accolade to our employees at the Uitenhage plant where the Polo is produced for local and international markets. Their commitment to producing world class quality vehicles has been acknowledged by the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists,’ Powels added. The Uitenhage factory builds Polos for all global right-hand drive destinations such as Australia, Cyprus, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, and the UK. The Polo adds the 2011 South African Car of the Year award to its extensive trophy haul, which also includes the 2010 European Car of the Year, 2010 World Car of the Year, and 2010 Japanese Import Car of the Year.

Saturday 5 March saw the opening rounds of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup, and Devin Robertson in the Sparco/Big Boss Auto Polo proved the most successful driver of the day, with second and third place finishes in each of the rounds. Missing a second place in the championship last year, his performance at Kyalami is a good indication of his determined spirit to score a higher spot on the podium in 2011. Kyle Barnes in the PG Glass/CFP Tyres/Conti Partner car took overall second place, while Kelvin van der Linde filled the third spot on the podium in the Ferodo Racing Polo Vivo.

The 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup series is similar to the other racing Polo Cup single-series championships run both in Europe and India. Just as in those series, the one-make format particularly highlights new young driving talent. In the Engen championship, as many as 30 drivers regularly take to the track in technically-identical, 2.0-litre 234bhp Volkswagen Polo Vivos, with full grids ensuring close-fought races. The full race report from Volkswagen South Africa and mini-gallery follows. The next rounds of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup are scheduled for 2 April at the Kilarney circuit in Cape Town.

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The 81st Geneva Motor Show threw open its doors today, and aside from the Italdesign Volkswagen Tex coupé concept we reported on earlier in the week, VW itself has more than a handful of debuts and new models on show. The Swiss expo sees the world debut of the new Golf Cabriolet – only announced last week – and the rejuvenated Tiguan. There’s also the BlueMotion variant of the new Passat, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, a new take on the iconic Type 2 (T2), called the Bulli – the original T2’s name in Germany. Here’s a quick round-up of the latest Volkswagen unveils from the show floor. The 81st Geneva Motor Show is open until 13 March at Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland.

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