NOVEMBER 19, 2001

Pischetsreider confirms VW sporting division

THE Ford Motor Company may have its own Premier Automotive Group but Volkswagen AG under its new chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder will have a sporting division, when the German takes control of the firm in April 2002. Pischetsrieder says that the group will include Audi, Seat and Lamborghini.

This is interesting as it almost certainly means the end of the Bentley Le Mans program although in the finest tradition the company will probably simply do a rebadging job and call the cars Lamborghinis. Seat is expected to stay in rallying which means that Audi will have to find something else to do.

It would not make much sense to have Audi competing with Lamborghini in sportscar racing... and besides the company has won Le Mans several times now.