Hybridization is not enough. At least for Volkswagen. The last great rider of the World Rally Championship left the contest by surprise and with a car under the 2017 regulation already developed as an indirect consequence of the 'dieselgate'. The same scandal that caused the entire VAG strategy to be rethought, including the competition areas of all its brands. Therefore it should not surprise us that François-Xavier Demaison was so categorical when asked by AUTOhebdo.

In a brief interview granted to the weekly Gallo the head of Volkswagen Motorsport ensures that they are not attracted to the step towards the hybrids intended by the World Rally Championship since 2022, as it is not consistent with the current positioning of the German brand: "The day when there are rallies with electric cars, there we will be ... but there may not be many to run with us. The brand is moving towards the electric and therefore sports programs must follow the same line. Hybrids are not enough. "

Even so, it is obvious that the combustion engine continues to have an important weight with regard to the customer-racing section, as it demonstrates that the Polo GTI R5 project is still going well. As Demaison explains in the same interview, for the time being the developments are focused on improving its reliability, although they do not rule out a greater evolution in two years.

https://www.diariomotor.com/competic...100-electrico/