German auto maker Volkswagen is to cease all motorsport involvement with the company stating that it is “pooling [its] strengths for the transformation to the mobile electric era”.
According to Dr Frank Welsch, member of the board of management with responsibility for the Development Division, the current workforce at VW Motorsport (approximately 170 employees) will be assimilated into the wider company, with Welsch hoping that expertise gained from the ID R Pikes Peak project will be beneficial to the company’s wider EV development.
Though VW’s involvement in racing has ebbed and flowed over the years, since the demise of its WRC project, it has been a customer-focused operation, building the Polo R5 and Golf TCR cars. The company states that parts support for these cars will remain in place for the foreseeable future, but production of the Polo R5 will cease at the end of this year.
Wilfried von Rath, member of the board of management with responsibility for Human Resources, noted that, “We are delighted that we are able to preserve jobs, especially in these challenging times, and will be offering all employees a transfer contract.”
