The booming popularity of motorsports, increasing competitive pressures and resistance to electric vehicles -- especially in the United States -- are combining to pave the way for greater investment by Detroit automakers into racing.
The racetrack is ingrained into the heritage of companies like General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and others. But serious competitive efforts have come and gone over the years. Until now: The GM-backed Cadillac Formula 1 Team launches next year. Stellantis NV's Ram is rejoining NASCAR. Ford has rebranded its performance division to Ford Racing and is partnering with Red Bull in F1 starting with the 2026 season.
"Motorsport has really had a cultural resurgence over these last few years," said Will Ford, Ford Racing's general manager and the great-great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford. "And it's such a unique platform for the Ford brand to connect with audiences that might not be paying attention to Ford otherwise, and that's on a global scale."
In no small part, the growth in popularity is driven by F1, traditionally a European-focused series historically dominated by European marques like Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes-Benz, to name three. F1's popularity accelerated thanks to Netflix's "Drive to Survive" documentary series, the expansion of races in the United States, the move to hybrid powertrains and the capping of spending for teams that's leveled the playing field.
That pop culture momentum has spilled across the car world -- along with the belief atop Detroit's automakers that there's money to be made, and technical cred to be won, by going racing and doing it right. How much it all costs and whether much -- if any of it -- is profitable the Detroit Three won't say.
"We know that traditional auto shows are really struggling," said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at automotive search engine iSeeCars.com. "If anything, what is growing is Pebble Beach, Car Week and the Woodward Dream Cruise."
The difference between the two, Brauer said, is the latter events communicate a "lifestyle." Aligning branding with a person's identity drives an emotional connection, and experiences create the moments that people plaster on social media, an organic marketing tool. These are trends shaping the broader retail environment known as "retailtainment."
Earlier this summer, Ram announced its return to NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series after more than a dozen years, joining with the Kaulig Racing team for the 2026 season. Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis emphasized the scene the brand will have at races of people having fun, including drinking, donut demonstrations and a Bucking Hemi mechanical bull.
But F1 especially has attracted multi-generational appeal and resonated with women, who F1 says make up 42% of its fanbase. Those elements have been a particular attraction for Cadillac, which embarked on a rebranding several years ago to become the "standard of the world," GM President Mark Reuss told The Detroit News.
"I don't think it's ever done what we're doing there, because it's so competitive, and it's a problem that we had in the past where we would spot invest, and we're not doing that here," Reuss said. "It was whatever the company could afford to invest in Cadillac at the time we did, but it wasn't a full portfolio. It wasn't a full rebranding of our dealerships. It wasn't motorsports on full tilt like we have in GTP on the Le Mans car with Cadillac and now Formula 1."
Cadillac's failures to win at France's 24 Hours of Le Mans at the turn of the century showed then how it underestimated the competition and overestimated its capability. GM's philosophy on racing has changed since that time, Reuss said, as has how it leverages technology. In 2025, Cadillac's factory cars secured pole position at Le Mans, but eventually dropped from the podium.
"That era of motorsport was not part of product development or engineering," Reuss said about the early 2000s effort. "And so in all of our motor sports, we design and build our engines."
That means the engine that Cadillac races in Le Mans comes from Pontiac, and Corvette and Chevrolet powertrains for GT3 teams, IndyCar and NASCAR are built alongside other GM engines.
NASCAR and F1 encapsulate the peak of motorsport enthusiasm. F1, especially, also is the epitome of wealth, Brauer noted. F1 ticket prices range from $193 in China to $1,008 in Las Vegas on average, according to F1Destinations.com. Those attendees are a lucrative demographic to turn into customers.
"There are more people on the planet all the time," Brauer said. "The percentage of the population in this is a relatively small percentage, but even if you get a sliver of that percentage to fill up your demand, that's good. That's why cars are more expensive. They're becoming more oriented toward the wealthier people. The automakers like Ford and GM want to play in the world."
Added Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst for the Americas at S&P Mobility: "If this was the only thing those brands were doing to reach out to consumers, it'd be pretty silly. But it's part of a much bigger and broader storyline, and in that context, it can make a lot more sense."
The average U.S. new-vehicle transaction price in August was more than $49,000, according to Kelley Blue Book. That was a 2.6% increase year-over-year, marking the largest annual gain in more than two years.
Because of the growth in the popularity of motorsports, now just being a part of the racing community has an impact, Brauer said: "There may be some ego there, too. Mark Reuss and (Ford CEO) Jim Farley, there's an enthusiast element to those guys. That's only adding to that and the willingness to it."
Assessing returns
Farley, a licensed race-car driver who has competed in various events, wasn't made available for an interview. But Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Racing, said the company is racing to win and cites it as a key component to racing for the right reasons. That hasn't always happened in the past.
Case in point: the failure of Ford's 2000-04 Jaguar F1 team to capture a win. Ford's new effort, Rushbrook said, traces to 2016 when the Ford GT race car won the LM GTE Pro class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the pinnacle of global sports car racing.
"If you're in it just to get on the track, that's not meaningful to us as a company or to our fans, and through that competing to be at the front, it really drives the innovation and tech transfer, and it really tells the marketing story about our company, our products, our people, and you've got to have that great balance or a full commitment on all of them," Rushbrook said. "If you're only in it to win, and you don't have the innovation and tech transfer making our products better, then it's a missed opportunity."
The beneficiaries inside Ford include high-margin Raptors and Mustang variants like GTD and Dark Horse. Under the new Ford Racing brand, the revenue and costs of those products -- along with experiences and merchandise -- all come together to give the company a fuller understanding of the impact of racing on Ford's financials.
That's key as Ford assesses its cost structure to be competitive against its traditional rivals as well as new global competitors like the Chinese. So, while Ford Racing has the goal of being a profitable business within the Ford Blue internal combustion engine and hybrid division, that won't hinder Ford on the race track, Rushbrook said.
"When motorsports was separate and a separate budget," he said, "it's so easy for the organization to look at that as an expense, a loss, and we would be much more profitable as a company if you stop spending money over there in racing, but with it truly tied together to make the product better and to make the profits bigger, driven by what you're doing in motorsports, then you grow. Having buy-in from the senior leadership team ... opens up a lot of opportunity that we could never do before."
Racing learnings, Rushbrook said, also get passed onto mainstream product teams, like aerodynamics benefits that increasingly become important when seeking to improve range in electric vehicles. But that doesn't necessarily get counted toward Ford Racing's balance sheet.
Ford is partnering in F1 with Red Bull Racing to contribute to their powertrains. GM's approach is a "full works" operation long-term with a dedicated Cadillac team. Although it's starting with Ferrari power units, it plans starting in 2029 to develop and build in-house its own engine in the United States. GM will make that product available to other F1 teams, creating a new potential new revenue stream, as well. Who? Reuss wouldn't say.
"The return on this," he said, "can be not only from an R&D, people, mainline competitiveness for General Motors and our vehicles and our technology. But it also can be a return financially if we do it well."
Once that system is in the racecar, that feedback will come fast with a race every week -- another one of the benefits of racing for GM, Reuss said.
"That mentality of development and cycle time is the only way we're going to compete worldwide with whoever is in the United States or in China or wherever we have to be better from a technical development and delivery of software and components and design to our customers than anybody else," he said. "And this puts an edge into our company internally that is like no other. And that edge, I don't know how you put dollars on it."
That mentality is what legacy automakers are looking to become on a greater scale to compete with the likes of Tesla Inc. and Chinese EV giant BYD Co. Ltd. Kelvin Fu, Honda Racing Corp. USA vice president, calls a racing company a startup: "We need to be small, agile, not hierarchical, not process-driven."
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. underwent a similar rebranding to Ford last year when Honda Performance Development became Honda Racing Corp. USA, a move that unified motorcycle, F1 and sports car racing at Honda under one brand. Although funding for racing has been consistent for more than a decade, it's created new opportunities in the company and in marketing, Fu said. A promotional video for the division quotes the company's founder: "If Honda does not race, there is no Honda."
Fu emphasized racing also as a tool for attracting electrical and software engineers, especially as F1, IndyCar and International Motor Sports Association move to hybrid powertrains.
Electrification impact
Braking system manufacturer Brembo NV has seen the benefits of racing as an "ultimate proving ground" in the electrification transition because of products that reduce drag and are lighter in weight, Mike Messina, head of Brembo North America's racing division, said at last week's Management Briefing Seminars in Detroit held by the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research.
"Fast forward 25 years later" from the company's foray in NASCAR racing, he said, "and what is one of the main priorities of any car manufacturer building an electric vehicle, is they want zero drag in their brakes. Lo and behold, we're really good at that, and that comes from lessons that we've learned in racing."
Hybrids also play into how Ford Racing is looking to position itself for long-term success, Will Ford said. But the politicization of EVs has also reinvigorated demand for Ford's performance models, and the Trump administration's efforts to roll back greenhouse gas emissions regulations relieve pressure on automakers to limit the availability of those vehicles in their product mix. It helps Ford Racing stay ahead of where consumers' tastes are and provide the powertrains buyers want, Will Ford said.
"With all the EV hype that we had over these last few years," he said, "we've realized that there is reinvigorated demand for cars with personality, and that refers to everything that goes into the car, from the design, the look and to the feel of driving, it's the powertrain, everything."
Likewise, as Ram seeks to pick up lost ground to rivals, racing, with the company's ultimate goal of getting into the top-level NASCAR Cup Series, pairs with its decision to return the Hemi V-8 engine to the 1500 lineup.
"The way we're going to do it is unlike anyone else," Kuniskis told reporters in June. "The reason that we've been out of NASCAR for 12 years is it's a very tough (return on investment). It's a very tough business decision to make. But when we say we're back, when we say nothing stops Ram, and when we bring the Hemi back ... it makes perfect sense to be back in this space."
He said the investment will pay off with more sales. About 50% of NASCAR's 20-million-strong fanbase are already pickup drivers, he said, and about 20% of that population already buy Rams. The goal, Kuniskis said, is to "shake up the sport, and really make our presence known."
F1 in August said "fan numbers" in the first half of 2025 were up 12% year-over-year, including 52 million in the United States alone, an increase of 11%. But with "Drive to Survive" already having released seven seasons, and viewership falling more than 10% to 2.6 million viewers year-over-year, some enthusiasts have asked people like Will Ford if these companies are arriving on the scene too late. He said people aren't tired of the content, but seeking it in other motorsport spaces.
"With the breadth of our racing activities," he said, "we're really well-positioned to tell that story at a cultural level of what's happening in the hyper-car space, what is endurance racing, what is off-road racing and the crazy underworld of off-road look like, and bring that story to a more mainstream audience.
"I think the Netflix series laid the foundation for all of that, but we don't see it going away at all. We see it growing."
@BreanaCNoble
Staff Writers Summer Ballentine and Luke Ramseth contributed.