Volkswagen's second foray into the World Rally Championship — the first having been limited Group A entries with the Golf GTI and GTI 16V between 1983 and 1988 — began with the Polo R WRC's official unveiling in May 2011. Development spanned eighteen months and involved two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Ogier, and test driver Dieter Depping, working across Norway, Finland, Germany, Spain, and Mexico to simulate competitive conditions. The car was homologated by the FIA in November 2012 and formally launched in December 2012 in Monaco. To build team management experience ahead of the Polo's debut, Volkswagen Motorsport entered Škoda Fabias in Super 2000 specification across twelve rounds of the 2012 World Rally Championship season.
Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala drove the Polo R WRC through the full 2013 season, with Andreas Mikkelsen contesting selected rounds in a third entry. The car's debut campaign was exceptional — it won ten of thirteen rallies, finishing on the podium in the remaining three. Ogier won the drivers' championship at the Rally de France, breaking the nine-year streak of consecutive titles shared by Sébastien Loeb and Citroën. Volkswagen simultaneously claimed its first manufacturers' championship.
The Polo R WRC continued its dominance in 2014, winning the first six rallies of the year. Latvala's victory in Argentina was the car's ninth consecutive rally win, surpassing the previous record of eight set by the Citroën DS3 WRC in 2011. Ogier secured his second consecutive drivers' title in Spain, with Volkswagen again taking the manufacturers' championship. Latvala won in France for his first career tarmac victory, while Mikkelsen scored several podiums in an expanded programme.
Volkswagen introduced a substantially updated second-generation Polo R WRC for 2015, featuring a new gearbox, revised hydraulics, a larger rear wing, and significant weight reduction — over seventy-five percent of the car had been developed during the off-season. Two-time World Drivers' Champion Marcus Grönholm joined the expanded testing programme. Ogier won his third consecutive drivers' championship in Australia, with Volkswagen claiming its third manufacturers' title. Latvala set a new record for the fastest rally in the sport's history at Rally Finland, averaging 125.44 km/h over the event. Mikkelsen took his maiden WRC victory in Spain after Ogier crashed on the final stage.
Despite minor changes during the winter, Volkswagen Motorsport continued to dominate the early 2016 season. Ogier won the opening rounds in Monte Carlo and Sweden before Latvala claimed victory in Mexico. Competition from Hyundai grew throughout the year, with Thierry Neuville winning in Sardinia, but Mikkelsen ended the car's mid-season winless run in Poland. Ogier secured his fourth consecutive drivers' title at Rally Catalunya, becoming only the fourth driver after Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Mäkinen, and Sébastien Loeb to win four championships. Volkswagen claimed its fourth manufacturers' title at Rally Great Britain. The final round in Australia saw Mikkelsen take his third WRC victory.
The Polo R WRC was built to the second-generation World Rally Car regulations, with a turbocharged engine producing around 300 hp. The car featured active differentials and sequential transmission. A revised version developed for the 2017 regulation overhaul — officially known as the Volkswagen Polo GTI WRC — incorporated a larger turbo restrictor, wider bodywork, a larger rear wing, a centre differential, and a reduction of 25 kg from the body shell. This development was cancelled when Volkswagen announced its withdrawal from the WRC in November 2016, citing the consequences of the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
Following its withdrawal from the championship, Volkswagen made the Polo R WRC available to privateer entries on a limited basis from 2017. Raimund Baumschlager was the first privateer driver to campaign one, contesting rounds of the Austrian national championship. Several chassis built in 2013 and 2014 were rebuilt and used by the factory-supported PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team in the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
The Volkswagen Polo R WRC's record of 43 victories in 53 starts represents one of the most dominant performances in World Rally Championship history. Sébastien Ogier alone won 31 of those rallies and four consecutive drivers' titles between 2013 and 2016. The car's withdrawal at the height of its competitiveness, forced by the broader corporate crisis at Volkswagen Group, left one of motorsport's most dominant programmes unfinished. Volkswagen later returned to rally competition through a customer programme built around the Polo GTI R5.