Mercedes‑AMG has announced that it has strategically reorganised its motorsport division to meet future requirements and plans.
The suite of changes includes the creation of a new subsidiary under the name “Affalterbach Racing GmbH”. This company will be responsible for all conceptual and technical customer sport activities of AMG, including the development of the new Mercedes‑AMG GT3.
In addition, Mercedes‑AMG GmbH plans to acquire part of its long-standing partner HWA AG. Both companies have signed a letter of intent to this effect. With this reorganisation, AMG is reaffirming its commitment to GT racing.
Affalterbach Racing GmbH’s first major task will be developing the successor to the highly-successful AMG GT3, which will be based on a derivative of the Mercedes‑AMG GT family.
Like AMG, Affalterbach Racing GmbH will have its headquarters in Affalterbach and is to work closely with the Mercedes‑AMG Motorsport team, which will continue to be responsible for the overall coordination of international motorsport activities.
Alongside the foundation of the new company intensive talks are being held with long-time partner HWA AG to take over the customer motorsport division.
Both parties have already signed a non-binding term sheet and are currently in the approval phase. The planned integration is intended to further expand Mercedes‑AMG Customer Racing in the future.
In addition to the bundling of development expertise, this also includes international customer service at the racetracks and spare parts support in Europe, the U.S., China and Australia.
In the meantime, HWA AG will continue with its other business areas and commitments, including the HWA EVO project. This reinterpretation of the iconic Mercedes‑Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II will continue to be developed, built and sold independently by HWA AG. AMG is in favour of the revival of this unique vehicle.
“Motorsport is part of the DNA of Mercedes‑AMG,” said Michael Schiebe, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes‑AMG GmbH. “This currently includes GT Sport in particular, in which we’ve been very successful for years. Going forward, we not only want to continue these successes but also expand them further.
“We continue to see a growing interest in GT3 vehicles and are therefore working intensively on our successor model. In order to utilise our in-house expertise even more effectively, we’ve strategically strengthened the motorsport division with the new business unit at the Affalterbach site and set an important course for the future. With Affalterbach Racing GmbH, we will now be able to act even more flexibly and quickly.”
Christoph Sagemüller, Head of Mercedes‑AMG Motorsport added: “I’m very pleased to be reaffirming our long-term and sustainable commitment to customer racing with the establishment of Affalterbach Racing GmbH.
“With it, we seek to further expand our extremely successful global GT customer sport programme. As a first step, the new GmbH is focusing on the development of the new GT3 racing car so that we can continue to offer our international customers a safe, reliable vehicle that is capable of winning.”
