Audi is pulling out of the World Endurance Championship and ending its 18-year involvement in the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the conclusion of the 2016 season.

The axing of the LMP1 program, which yielded 13 Le Mans victories, the WEC drivers' and manufacturers' titles in 2012-13 and multiple successes in the American Le Mans Series, follows what has been described as a realignment of Audi's motorsport program. The German manufacturer will focus on its participation in the Formula E championship with the Abt Schaeffler squad, a racing marriage announced at the beginning of September.

Audi chairman Rupert Stadler said, "We’re going to contest the race for the future on electric power. As our production cars are becoming increasingly electric, our motorsport cars, as Audi’s technological spearheads, have to even more so.”

Audi's all-electric production vehicles will go on sale at the start of the 2018 model year.

The official announcement of the news from Audi uses the word "instead" when talking about the end of the WEC campaign and the new focus on Formula E. But Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich had previously stated that Formula E was an "additional program" and would have no bearing on the decision-making process with regard to a continuation in LMP1.

The statement from Audi announcing the WEC withdrawal hinted at a drive to reduce the company's motorsport budget when it said the decision needed to be understood "in the context of the current burdens of the brand," a reference to the financial liabilities that are likely to follow last year's "dieselgate" emissions scandal.

It also said that some of the technical resources within Audi Sport would be diverted into the development of production vehicles.

The decision comes against the backdrop of declining sales of turbodiesels -- the technology it showcases in the WEC -- and political pressure in some markets to outlaw diesels. One requirement of the participation of two brands from the Volkswagen Group -- Audi and Porsche -- in the WEC is that they use different technologies.

Audi has lent its name to the Abt team's Formula E program since the beginning of the series in 2014-15 and is stepping up its involvement for the 2016-17 season ahead of what is likely to become a full factory engagement in the future.

Audi’s participation in the DTM touring car series is unaffected by the decision.