MOTORSPORT: VW quits WRC

Volkswagen has announced it will withdraw from the World Rally Championship (WRC) following the end of the 2016 season.

Since entering the sport back in 2013 the German car-maker has won 42 of the 51 WRC rounds with its Polo WRC car, with Sebastien Ogier taking four drivers' titles and VW four manufacturers' titles.

Despite quitting WRC, Volkswagen will not end all its motorsport activities.

Instead, the German car-maker said it will re-focus its efforts on customer-based competition with its Golf TCR and Beetle GRC rallycross car.

The German car-maker's motorsport arm will also continue its development of an R5-specification Polo for the 2018 season but said it has ended all development of the 2017 Polo WRC car it had created for next year.

Speaking, following the official announcement, Volkswagen's R&D boss Frank Welsch said: "The Volkswagen brand is facing enormous challenges. With the upcoming expansion in electrification of our vehicle range we must focus all our efforts on important future technologies."

Describing the car-maker's 2013-2016 involvement in WRC as the "most successful chapter in the Volkswagen brand's motorsport history", motorsport director, Sven Smeets said: "From now on, the focus is on upcoming technologies in motorsport and on our customer sports range, where we will position ourselves more broadly and attractively."

It's thought the phrase “upcoming technologies” could be a hint from the WRC boss that VW could be considering entering a new pure-electric motorsport activity, like the recently announced Global Electric Rallycross season, others have reported.

Guaranteeing all Volkswagen Motorsport employees jobs at its Hannover-based WRC team, Welsch said the former team would offer the R5-regulation Polo, that's based on the sixth-gen supermini, to customer teams from 2018.

Mirroring a similar decision made by sister brand, Audi, to pull the plug on its 18-year involvement in World Endurance Championship, the decision by the Volkswagen Group to wind back both brand’s motorsport involvement comes as it faces a $US14 billion compensation scheme to buy back 475,000 vehicles (in the US) powered by four-cylinder turbo-diesels with the infamous cheat device fitted.

The troubled car-making giant also faces lawsuits from at least 16 US states for additional claims. It has already paid out $US1.21billion to 652 US VW dealers and $US600 million to 44 US states to address some state claims.

Under the terms of the buyback Volkswagen will offer owners of affected vehicles pre-scandal trade-in value plus $US5100 to $US10,000 in additional compensation.

The final round of the 2016 WRC, Rally Australia, takes place in Coffs Harbour on 18 November.