VW Motorsport has announced plans to drop its factory-backed commitments using internal combustion engines and focus on fully electric racing cars. The first stage will involve different disciplines, platforms and vehicle types being examined and evaluated.
“Volkswagen is resolutely committing to e-mobility and will say goodbye to factory-backed commitments using internal combustion engines,” said Dr Frank Welsch, member of the board of management for technical development for the VW Passenger Cars brand. “In addition to the ID R as a technological pioneer, the MEB will in future be the second, production-related pillar in Volkswagen’s motorsport program.”
Production of the Golf GTI TCR for the racetrack will expire at the end of 2019, however a successor based on the new generation will not be offered. Customer service and spare parts supply will be guaranteed in the long term.
And while factory-backed competition entries with the Polo GTI R5 will no longer go ahead, the competition car will continue to be produced for customer teams. The company’s Hanover base will be responsible for continued customer support, spare parts supply and the competitiveness of the Polo.
“Electric mobility offers enormous development potential,” explained VW Motorsport director Sven Smeets. “In this regard motorsport can be a trailblazer: on the one hand, it serves as a dynamic laboratory for the development of future production cars and, on the other, as a convincing marketing platform to inspire people even more toward electric mobility.
“That is why we are going to focus more than ever on factory-backed electric drive commitments and continue to expand our activities with the development of the MEB. Innovative technology relevant to the car of the future is our focus.”
