There have been rumours going around saying that Volkswagen is preparing a high performance version of the Polo. The German automaker has been rather tight lipped over it initially and later on denied that there would be such a model.

But at the 31^st GTI Meeting held in Worthersee, Austria, held earlier this year; Volkswagen unveiled a Polo concept which is known as the Volkswagen Polo R WRC Street Concept (top most image). The concept is a road version of the Volkswagen Polo R WRC that will be competing in the World Rally Championships in 2013.

And now, there are reports of a production version of the Polo R that is said to be unveiled at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and will be offered to the public shortly after that.

Ulrich Hackenberg, Volkswagen's head of R&D, has confirmed that the company will debut the Volkswagen Polo R at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show and the launch will coincide with the automaker's entry into the World Rally Championships.

Hackneberg also mentioned that the Polo R's announcement was in fact to draw attention to Volkswagen's WRC efforts and the company originally had no intentions to release such a model.

The production Polo R is said to get a tuned version of the same engine used in the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk VI. The 2.0 litre turbocharged four cylinder unit is tuned to deliver 225bhp. This will give the Polo R a higher performance level over the Polo GTI (second image from top).

With a lighter kerb weight compared to the Golf GTI, this means that the Polo R will be slightly faster than the Golf GTI's 0-100km/h timing of 6.9 seconds. The Polo R will remain a front wheel drive unlike its Golf R sibling and it will benefit from a mechanical limited slip differential.

Exterior wise, the Polo R will surely be kitted with a host of body modifications and bigger sized wheels in order to differentiate it with the base and GTI models. Expect it to feature a lowered, and probably adjustable, suspension kit and bigger brakes.

Photo credit: Net Car Show