PoloDriver

US website Motor Authority has recently hinted that the Polo is still to appear Stateside, just a little later than Volkswagen’s initial plans. Now slightly more involved, the company’s plans for the federal Polo are said to include the new sedan (saloon, new rendering above) and a stretched iteration of the hatchback model on sale in Europe; something between a mini-van and a traditional hatch.

Production is rumoured to start in 2011 at VW’s Puebla plant in Mexico, and the US Polo will be aimed at competitors such as the Ford Fiesta and Honda Jazz/Fit. A sedan version of the car developed for the Indian and Asian market is already slated to go on sale later this year. Head across to Motor Authority to read more.

[Image: Motor Authority]

The 2010 Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa kicked off at the weekend with its first races of the season at Scribante. 2009 title defender Matthew Hodges claimed victory over Devin Robertson, with a 2.3 second lead in the first round and was 3.6 seconds ahead in the second. Twenty cars raced around the 2.48km circuit near Cape Town, with Kyle Barnes and Jacques Joubert taking the remaining podium places. The 2010 Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa series is similar to the other racing Polo championships run in Europe and India. Just as in those series, the one-make format highlights new young driving talent. As many as 30 drivers regularly take to the track in technically identical cars, full grids ensure close-fought races.

The first Volkswagen event for many this year takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend. Sunday 2 May sees the staging of Stanford Hall 2010, which by our reckoning, is the 34th running of the well-loved classic Volkswagen show. Largely focusing on standard cars, the event used to favour air-cooled VWs, but over the past few years there’s been an ever-increasing water-cooled contingent.

The UK Polo forums have been buzzing with news of older Polos’ anticipated attendance, and we know at least one club will be present. We’ll be there, too, and with our range of promotional material, you should be able to spot us. Find us in the club stand area, and if we’re not checking out the show, pop across to talk Polo.

Latest reports from India suggest that the new Polo Sedan could take the name of VW’s Series 3 Golf-based saloon, the Vento. Autocar India states that as the name means ‘wind’ in both Italian and Portugese, the new Polo notchback would follow the longstanding Volkswagen tradition of calling its cars after prominent winds. The current issue of the magazine also hints that the car will go on sale in July, and that the company is aiming for 25,000 units to be sold each year.

The wheelbase has reportedly been extended by 50mm to allow for better legroom, while the platform and bodywork are similar to the Polo hatchback as far as the B-pillar. The notchback rear body panels – which house a massive 500-litre boot – are said to be well-integrated with the rest of the car, and if Autocar India’s latest mock-up photos are based on fact, then the new Vento could be the best-looking Polo three-box since the original Derby of 1977. Engines are expected to be 104bhp 1.6-litre petrol and TDI units. The common-rail TDI unit could then also be dropped into the Indian-market Polo hatchback to mirror models in Europe, the magazine states.

The ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup may have been usurped by the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup in Germany, but the Series 4 Polo is still enjoying a successful motorsport career in, among other places, South Africa. Last weekend, Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson took their Polo S2000 to victory in the 2010 Sasol Rally, the third round of the 2010 Sasol South African Rally Championship. Scoring the best time in six of the 16 special stages, the duo were 30 seconds ahead of second-placed Johnny Gemmell and his Toyota Auris S2000. Rounding off the 2010 Sasol Rally top three was the fellow Polo S2000 pair of Jan Habig and ex-Dakar co-driver Ralph Pitchford.

The Sasol victory is the latest in a line of podium places for the Polo S2000 in 2010. Kuun and Hodgson finished second in the 2010 Toyota Dealer Rally on 26-27 March, 5 seconds behind the Ford Fiesta S2000 of Conrad Rautenbach and Peter Marsh, while Habig and Pitchford’s car didn’t complete the event. In total, 12 Polos contested the rally, in the A6, A7 and S2000 classes. Meanwhile, in the first event of the season, the 2010 Total Tour Natal Rally on 6-7 March, the Polo S2000 of 2009 champions Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries took the top spot, with Kuun and Hodgson’s car very close behind. Habig and Pitchford’s Polo S2000 came in eighth.

The factory-backed 2010 Polo S2000s are competing in BP Ultimate livery until later in the season, when a squad of new shape Polos are rumoured to appear, possibly on the Volkswagen Rally in July. Although BP has ended its sponsorship of the official Volkswagen trio, it remains as fuel supplier. The next round of the 2010 Sasol South African Rally Championship is the Rally of South Africa on 28 and 29 May, which will be held in the Ermelo region of Mpumalanga.

[Images: QuickPic]