[Audi Q3 News]

Last week Reuters reported that #Dieselgate could have dire consequences on the German Bundesliga, where VW invests hundreds of millions in sponsorship annually, but the fallout could be potentially worse for the World Endurance Championship.

Fearing fines and compensation claims the Reuters piece claims that the “hundreds of millions of euros invested in German football annually” could come under review as a non-essential marketing expense.

Could the same be said for VW's WEC efforts? Bertel Schmitt at Daily Kanban reports that insiders fear the Volkswagen Group could withdraw from World Rally Championship and World Endurance Championship racing.

$37 billion in cash and cash equivalents that VW sits on. Insignificant as that may seem it could have dire consequences on the fate of LMP1 racing.

World Endurance Prototype racing is dominated by the VW Group and Toyota. Now should the parents call Audi and Porsche home for supper it will leave Toyota alone in the sandbox. Kanbans insiders presume that “Akio[Toyoda] doesn’t want to race against himself”

However, VAG could consider only dropping Audi's TDI Powered R18, leaving the Porsche gasoline-electric hybrid as their lone representative in Endurance racing, while Audi could shift into F1 away from diesels, which Audi says is gaining significance for them.

Stay Tuned sports fans!

 

[Otto]

So far Porsche seems to be not affected by the scandal so it would make sense for them to stick it out.

I'm sure other automakers will be happy to take over VW's sponsorship. It is a huge brand placement opportunity. Apparently VW is involved with multiple teams. It could actually hit a number of them a little hard.

http://www.espnfc.us/german-bundesl...missions-scandal-could-impact-german-football

 

[Quatto]

It`s possible that although VW owns those brands the operate as separate companies but sharing some things in the process, so some brands they own could be in the clear.

 

[rnlabas]

On the other hand, Audi has had a gasoline engine waiting in the wings for LMP1 cuz the WEC has been continuously challenging the TDI for about 3 years with ever-increasing restrictions and added weight in "balance of performance" mode. Audi was/is about to call Uncle on the TDI long before a scandal was brewing anyway - does that mean they won't compete at all in the WEC? I don't think so - their record speaks differently even with bro Porsche back in the mix...hey, their gas engines aren't so bad either

 

[AudiFox]

The VW Group has more than enough money to take the financial hit if their revenue from 2014 is anything to go by. They should still be competing in the WEC even if it's just with one car.

 

[rnlabas]

Revenue is far from EBIT or net margin in this business - so upwards of $20B is still a VERY big hit if comes to it. Latest news is that NO LAWS were actually broken, even if in the spirit of those laws some shenanigans WERE made ... There's a very positive note from Scott Keogh on this for Audi owners, presumably something similar went to VW folks too...

 

[AudiFox]

I'm sure it won't cripple VW since it's stated in the first post that they are sitting on "$37 billion in cash and cash equivalents" but we'll have to wait and see how this pans out and how much VW is made to pay out later on.