The host cancels Worthersee due to environmental reasons
When electric vehicles (EVs) first hit the scene, they were the fresh new thing with doubters and haters, fast forward to 2023 and some countries are discussing outright banning the sales of petrol cars in favour of EVs, but this is fine since it benefits the enthronement right? So what about car meets like the Worthersee GTI Fest then?
Well according to the Austrian municipality that hosts the Worthersee Teffen and the larger Mega Worthersee GTI Meet in general stated that Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles no longer align with its environmental goals and as such will permanently cancel the event after three years of cancellations due to the pandemic.
Moreover, the Worthersee GTI Fest has been a celebration of the Volkswagen Golf GTI and hot hatch fans at large and saw fans from all across Europe and eventually the world gather in the Austrian town of Maria Worth since 1982. Volkswagen would later sponsor the whole event in the mid 2000s.
In a press release, translated by Google, the municipality of Maria Worth announced that it “will no longer host any conventional major automotive events in the next few years.” and that the “meeting at lake Wörth” will also be cancelled. Whether this is warranted so soon is another question entirely though.
The Mayor of the Austrian town, Mayor Perdacher, speaking about the Worthersee GTI Fest, said “In the spirit of localhood, we are working to create attractive and sustainable living spaces that benefit all people who are in the community— regardless of whether they spend a few days there or a lifetime.”
On top of that, if I remember correctly, ICE vehicles were not supposed to be “outlawed” in Europe until 2025, so why cancel an event like this now when it would have most likely had to be cancelled by default in 2 years anyway? Are 2 more Worthersee GTI Fests really that harmful to the environment?
In fact, a Volkswagen spokesperson, while speaking to carscoops, commented “We regret that the legendary GTI meeting at Wörthersee will no longer take place in this form. We are currently investigating how we can support the GTI fan community in the future. Maintaining the community is very important to us because we come into direct contact with our most loyal customers.”
Well, I don’t know about you guys but I feel like this was a low blow, especially since many car enthusiasts are very sad to see our beloved ICE engines taken away from us one by one after the manual transmission was made obsolete. Still, I hope that the Worthersee GTI Fest can actually live on in another form like Volkswagen said.
What do you guys think? Is the end of the Worthersee GTI Fest only the beginning or will other car meets still somehow stay alive? I guess only time will tell.
