Audi "will end its involvement" in the Le Mans sports car race next year after almost two decades "to focus on racing electric cars, symbolizing a shift in strategy as parent company Volkswagen battles to recover from an emissions scandal," according to Andreas Cremer of REUTERS.
Audi, which "is seeking to boost the share of zero-emission vehicles to at least a quarter of its global sales" by '25, said that it "will start competing next year in the Formula E electric-car racing championship." In the biggest transformation in the brand's history, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said,
"We will conduct the race for the future electronically. As our production cars are becoming increasingly electric, our motorsport cars, as Audi's technological spearheads, have to even more so." Audi denied a report in Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper that "savings from pulling out of Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship would amount to an annual" €300M ($328M). A source at Audi said the move would save Audi nearly €100M ($109M) per year (REUTERS, 10/26). AUTOWEEK's Gary Watkins reported the official announcement of the news from Audi "uses the word 'instead' when talking about the end of the WEC campaign and the new focus on Formula E." But Audi Motorsport Dir Wolfgang Ullrich "had previously stated that Formula E was an 'additional program' and would have no bearing on the decision-making process with regard to a continuation in LMP1."
The statement from Audi announcing the WEC withdrawal "hinted at a drive to reduce the company's motorsport budget when it said the decision needed to be understood 'in the context of the current burdens of the brand,' a reference to the financial liabilities that are likely to follow last year's 'dieselgate' emissions scandal" (AUTOWEEK, 10/26). THE VERGE's Sean O'Kane wrote Audi "is nowhere near the first manufacturer to jump into Formula E, despite the fact that the series only has 22 races under its belt." Renault, Jaguar, Citroën DS, Mahindra, and NextEV "all run teams in the series." Others, like BMW and Faraday Future, "have partnered with teams and plan to increase their involvement over the years." Mercedes-Benz recently announced plans "to join the series" in '18.
The ramifications of the emissions cheating scandal "are likely a contributing factor in Audi’s decision." The heart of the scandal "revolved around Volkswagen installing devices on diesel cars that could cheat emissions tests, and prototype cars in WEC currently use hybrid diesel engines." But Formula E "was already becoming one of the premiere destinations for manufacturers to showcase their focus on electric technology" (THE VERGE, 10/26).
