Earlier this year, Volkswagen hired Jost Capito to head the Volkswagen motorsports division. The brainchild of the Ford Focus RS while Jost Capito ran Ford's Global Performance Vehicles group, Capito is now looking to shake things up at Germany's largest automaker as well.
According to a report from Whatcar, Capito is pushing to expand performance car offerings within Volkswagen. In light of the recent trends that place an emphasis on fuel efficiency and social responsibility, an injection of sport and performance is certainly a very good thing.
One of the bold announcements this year is Volkswagen's return into World Rally Championship and its latest VW Polo WRC car slated to enter the 2013 Monte Carlo Rally. Building upon the revived motorsport efforts, Volkswagen is expected to unveil a new VW Polo R smoking-hot-hatch by the Geneva Motor Show. Beyond that, we extensive performance offerings including an ambitious Volkswagen Carbon GTI, a limited production vehicle, is expected to make its debut as well.
Capito says, "I have always had the view that the production cars have to support and reflect what is happening on the circuits and rally stages. I implemented that at Ford, and that view hasn't changed now that I'm at VW. By definition it would mean more than the Polo R."
To guarantee the success of VW R-models in the global market, Capito must first guarantee the success of Volkswagen's factory efforts in the 2013 WRC season. We can't wait to see how Volkswagen performs in the year ahead.
