-Ends over 50 years of superlative motorsport history
-Volkswagen India to continue its participation in ICE based Motorsport activities
With an increasing number of car manufacturers reshaping and transforming towards the electric vehicle era, the Motorsport division seems to have taken a back seat. Volkswagen has taken a similar retreat and decided to terminate all its motorsport activities participation as a part of the company’s realignment and focusing plan. Most recently, even Audi and BMW announced their withdrawal from Formula E by the end of 2020-2021 season.
With the disclosure, the German car marker also assured retaining of 169 employees under the Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH. In the coming months, the personnel will be offered a transfer contract and integrated at the brand’s overall operations in Wolfsburg, Germany. This move also marks the end of ID.R project despite the company’s announcement last year that the motorsport division would purely target on electric racing projects.
Volkswagen has a rich five decade history in Motorsport including three Dakar Rally wins, two TCR international touring car titles, three Rallycross World Championship titles and four Rally World Championship successes.
Dr Frank Welsch, Member of the Board of Management said, “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.”
However, on the flip side, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India has given out an official announcement stating, “Volkswagen India will continue with its Motorsport program based on ICE vehicles in India. Due to the on-going pandemic, we have recently commenced our Virtual Racing Championship, the first virtual Motorsport championship in India, and are hoping to be back on track in 2021 with our one make series. Volkswagen Motorsport India will continue in its endeavor to nurture and provide a dynamic platform for young budding talents across the nation.”
