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Skoda hints at what's to come from Volkswagen with S2000 WRC title

To the outsider, it would be all too easy to forget that the FIA World Rally Championship has more than one class. Just like Le Mans endurance racing has various LMP and GT racing categories, and NASCAR has the Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series, so too does the WRC have more than one tier. So while the Sebastien Loeb and the Citroën World Rally Team were locking up their seventh title in the top tier of the championship, Skoda took its first title in the Super 2000 category as its Finnish crew Juho Hänninen and Mikko Markkula won took a class win and 10th overall in the RACC Rally of Spain this past weekend.
So what, who cares, you ask? Well you'd be forgiven for dismissing an overseas automaker (whose products we don't even get here) winning a second-tier rally series that doesn't come here, either. (Mexico's the closest stage on this year's calendar.) But we'll tell you why it matters: Skoda's sister (or parent) company Volkswagen is entering the top-tier WRC next season with the new Polo R. And while VW has enjoyed much success in rally-raid events like Dakar, the WRC is an entirely different beast.
In order to prepare for its assault on the most world's foremost rally series, Volkswagen has been looking to Skoda's program to test out everything from machinery to personnel. And given that Skoda - whose motorsport division celebrates its 110th anniversary this year - has come out on top, we could be looking at a very serious contender from Wolfsburg for next year's championship.

Skoda up!grades with five-door Citigo

On this side of the Atlantic, one Volkswagen division's new product may not have a significant impact on those of another. That's because the German auto giant's brands are kept quite separate in North America. Less so, however, back in Europe, where a new VW is likely to reappear in due time as a Seat or Skoda.
Case in point: the new Up! city car, which is also sold overseas as the Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo. And, true to form, with the Volkswagen brand having enlarged its city car to a five-door, its Czech cousin has followed suit.
And so, starting in May (after its debut at the Geneva Motor Show), European buyers will be able to get their hands on a five-door Citigo, offering the same 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine (in either 60- or 75-horsepower guise) as the Up, Mii and three-door Citigo. Details in the press release after the jump.

Skoda nixes prospect of building a sportscar

We have to admit we were more than a little bit intrigued when Skoda showed up at Wörthersee this year with the Fabia RS 2000 roadster you see here. The concept essentially took the company's S2000 rally machine, gave it a fresh coat of Kermit and chopped off the roof... with four seats and four doors still intact. But could such a vehicle ever be produced?
According to the latest reports from across the pond, the answer, quite simply, is "no". Apparently Skoda is fixated on reaching its sales targets, and while something could certainly be said for a halo vehicle - particularly one based on one of its top-selling volume models - the Czech automaker is not keen on distracting itself from the task at hand. (We'll just have to admire it from the updated high-res image gallery, then.)
That's a bit of a shame, especially since the VW subsidiary's line-up is, well, rather conservative. But don't go thinking that Skoda is about to give up on performance-oriented models altogether, though: the company will continue developing and producing its vRS line of hot hatches and sedans, like the Fabia, Octavia and even the upcoming production version of the MissionL concept debuted in Frankfurt. A Superb vRS performance sedan, however, is reportedly not in the cards, as the executive saloon is just too big to fit the bill.