This article was published in the August 2009 issue of Motorsport World Magazine, written by Stefanie Gork Ruiz-Herrera (Lexus Test Driver).

>>The German motorsport and performance engineering marketplace was estimated at £3 billion in 2008. Germany has a very strong base of road-car manufacturing, including VAG, BMW, Mercedes, Opel and Porsche, and has a significant pool of automotive-engineering expertise situated around Munich and Stuttgart. Massive investment by Toyota F1 in Cologne has focused attention on the growing strength of the German motorsport industry.
Toyota, like Ferrari, is unique in producing both chassis and engine for F1 under the same roof. German OEMs involved in F1 include Mercedes, who currently part-own McLaren F1 and use their wholly owned UK specialist Ilmor (now renamed Mercedes High Performance Engines) as engine supplier to the team. There are also a significant number of world-class F1 suppliers in Germany, including Sachs (clutches), BBS (wheels), Bosch (electronics), Mahle (pistons) and Eibach (suspension).
Outside F1, Audi and Bentley, part of VAG, have enjoyed significant sportscar success, including winning six consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours, and success in the USA. Audi and Bentley engines and chassis, however, have been partly built and developed outside Germany, relying on British and Italian specialists. This reliance on outside chassis and design specialists, particularly in the area of aerodynamics and composites, points to two areas of weakness for the German motorsport industry.
Mercedes activities, outside F1, are based around the successful DTM saloon car series; an essentially German-based national championship that also had German OEMs Opel and Audi as competitors until 2005, when Opel pulled out. Mercedes DTM cars are built by AMG, a formerly independent motorsport specialist, which is now wholly owned by Mercedes. Opel had a similarly wholly owned motorsport specialist in Germany, OPC, to construct its DTM cars, while Audi uses the independent German motorsport specialist, Abt, and the in-house Audi Sport to build its DTM cars. A significant proportion of all three OEMs’ DTM cars are sourced from outside the country, particularly from motorsport specialists in Italy and Britain.<<

Interesting article. but £3 billion in 2008?!