Volkswagen Brand to Cease all Motorsports Activities

Photo: Volkswagen

The Volkswagen brand will cease all motorsports activities, with its 150-plus staff absorbed into the German manufacturer’s production vehicle department.

It is latest industry shakeup within the VW Group and confirms the end of Volkswagen’s all-electric ID.R project.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the “realignment” will see its motorsport workforce, which had previously been involved in rally, touring car and one-off sports car racing efforts, integrated into Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg.

“The Volkswagen brand is on the way to becoming the leading provider of sustainable electromobility. To this end, we are pooling our strengths and have decided to discontinue our own motorsport activities for the Volkswagen brand,” said Dr. Frank Welsch, board member for development at Volkswagen.

“The deep technical expertise of the employees as well as the know-how gained from the ID.R project will remain in the company and will help us to further develop efficient models of the ID.”

Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH employs 169 people who will make the transition in the “coming months.”

The development comes nearly exactly one year after VW Group announced that the Volkswagen motorsport brand would be fully focused on EV racing and just one day after Audi revealed a reorganization of its motorsports activities that will include a planned LMDh effort.

“The Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH team has had significant sporting successes for the brand over the decades,” said Wilfried von Rath, member of the board of management of Volkswagen.

“My sincere thanks go to all employees for the many victories, titles and records around the world and their personal commitment.

“We are delighted that we will get employment especially in this challenging time and will make a takeover offer to all employees.”

The supply of spare parts for the Polo GTI R5 and the Golf GTI TCR will be ensured for the “long term”, meanwhile.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John