At the end of this year, Volkswagen Motorsport will end the production of the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 and it’s motorsport programs will come to an end with all 200 employees being relocated within the VW Group in Wolfsburg.
The decision means the end of the company’s motorsport department, which has been in operation since the 1960s. No new cars will roll out of the production line, which means that the Polo GTI R5’s currently being built by the German manufacturer will be the last.
“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,” said Dr. Frank Welsch, Member of the Board of Management.
“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”
The company will ensure that spare parts needed for both VW Polo R5 and VW Golf TCR remains, although it’s yet to be decided whether this takes place in-house or outsourced to customer teams.
Interestingly, despite VW being set to move towards a fully electric car lineup in the next few years, the manufacturer has no plans to enter any electric-powered motorsport.
