The Volkswagen brand is pooling strengths for the transformation to the mobile electric era. The brand is terminating its motorsport activities as part of the company’s realignment and further focusing. The Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH workforce will be integrated in Volkswagen AG.
“The Volkswagen brand is on the way to becoming the leading provider for sustainable e-mobility. To this end, we are pooling our strengths and have decided to terminate the Volkswagen brand’s own motorsport activities. The motorsport workforce will be integrated in Volkswagen AG. The deep technical expertise of the motorsport employees and the know-how gained from the ID.R project will remain with the company and will help us put further efficient models from the ID. family on the road”, said Dr. Frank Welsch, Member of the Board of Management with responsibility for the Development Division.
“For decades, the Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH team brought the brand a string of major sporting successes. My warmest thanks go to all employees for so many victories, titles and records throughout the world and for their personal dedication and commitment”, Wilfried von Rath, Member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Human Resources, commented, acknowledging the achievements of the team. He added: “We are delighted that we are able to preserve jobs, especially in these challenging times, and will be offering all employees a transfer contract.”
Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH based in Hanover employs 169 people who will be integrated in Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg over the coming months.
The long-term supply of spare parts for the Polo GTI R5 and Golf GTI TCR for the racing circuit is secure. Production of the customer sport Polo GTI R5 for rallying expires at the end of 2020.
About Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH:
Volkswagen Motorsport can look back on over five decades of motorsport history. Starting with the heyday of Formula V in the 1960s and 70s and the successes in Formula 3, production-ready vehicles such as the Volkswagen Polo, Golf and Scirocco lined up on the grid at racing circuits, rallycross and rally sport. The brand’s greatest achievements include three Dakar Rally wins with the Race Touareg (2009-2011), four Rally World Championship titles with the Polo R WRC (2013-2016), two TCR International titles with the Golf GTI (2016, 2017), and three Rallycross World Championship titles with the Polo (2017, 2018,2020). Volkswagen Motorsport successfully made the transition to e-mobility from 2018 with the fully-electric ID.R.
Volkswagen holds five international records with the ID.R racing car, including the overall record for Pikes Peak (USA), the electric record for the Nürburgring North Loop (D) and the Tianmen Mountain in China.