Return On Racing Powered by Vaucher Analytics

David Vaucher
  • 5.0 (2)
  • AUTOMOTIVE

Return on Racing is the podcast where motorsport meets money. Hosted by motorsports business strategist David Vaucher, each episode breaks down how racing teams, sponsors, series, and sim racers can improve sponsorship ROI, manage rising costs, and build sustainable growth models in a rapidly changing industry.  

  1. DEC 18

    Going Racing Is No Longer Optional: Why Emotion Will Decide the Future of Car Sales

    Relevant links for this episode: Racing Is No Longer Optional: Why Emotion Will Determine the Future of Car SalesThe "Forever Car": Why Longevity Is the Luxury Advantage Against Chinese EVsThe Swiss Watch Strategy: Why Legacy Automakers Must Pivot To It Now...Or Be Crushed By Chinese EVsRacing, Politics and Power: Why Porsche's WEC Threat Isn't Really About MoneySign up for the Return On Racing newsletterMotorsport has entered a new golden age yet some automakers are pulling out, hesitating, or questioning whether going racing still matters in an era defined by electrification, software, and regulation. In this episode, we tackle what many automotive boardrooms are trying to avoid: going racing is no longer optional. As Chinese manufacturers surge globally, they are winning on price, features, speed of execution, and technical competence.  Functional differentiation is collapsing across the car market, and for the average buyer, most cars are now simply “good enough.” Specs blur together, comparisons become exhausting, and rational decision-making breaks down. When products converge, identity becomes the only defensible advantage. In a future where cars increasingly look alike, emotion becomes the business model, and motorsport, properly leveraged, is the dividing line between brands people buy because they’re cheap and brands people buy because they dream of them. #AutomotiveIndustry #EVStrategy #ChineseEVs #China #ForeverCar #F1 #WRC #WEC #IMSA #AutomotiveDesign #FutureOfCars #ElectricVehicles #BrandStrategy #Toyota #Porsche #BMW #Lexus #MercedesBenz #Ferrari #Lamborghini #McLaren #AutomotiveBusiness #VaucherAnalytics Contact the show: contact@vaucheranalytics.com Brought to you by the Motorsports Sponsorship Accelerator, the most cutting-edge resource to help you learn how to develop meaningful sponsorship relationships. To contact Return On Racing, please send an email to contact@vaucheranalytics.com

    13 min

  2. DEC 12

    The Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: Formula 1

    Relevant links for this episode: The Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: Formula 1The Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: The WRCThe Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: The WEC and IMSAThe Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: IndyCarWho Cares If the F1 Movie Is Inaccurate? It's Drive To Survive at 18,000 RPMThe Next 100 Years of Motorsport: What Will Racing Look Like In 2125?Sign up for the Return On Racing newsletterFormula 1 enters 2026 at the absolute peak of its cultural relevance yet beneath the surface, structural tensions are building that will define whether this era becomes a lasting golden age or a fragile bubble. In this episode, we take a clear-eyed look at the true state of Formula 1 in 2025, not through race results or driver drama, but through the lenses that actually determine long-term health: cost, governance, competitive balance, and commercial sustainability. #Formula1 #F1 #McLaren #LandoNorris #MotorsportBusiness #StateOfMotorsport #Strategy #FIA #MotorsportEconomics  #VaucherAnalytics  Contact the show: contact@vaucheranalytics.com Brought to you by the Motorsports Sponsorship Accelerator, the most cutting-edge resource to help you learn how to develop meaningful sponsorship relationships. To contact Return On Racing, please send an email to contact@vaucheranalytics.com

    16 min

  3. DEC 12

    The “Forever Car”: Why Longevity Is the Luxury Advantage Against Chinese EVs

    Relevant links for this episode: The "Forever Car": Why Longevity Is the Luxury Advantage Against Chinese EVsSign up for the Return On Racing newsletterChinese EV manufacturers are structurally better positioned for a world of fast product cycles, software-driven obsolescence, and disposable hardware. And yet, legacy automakers still have a card to play, one that has been the foundation of the concept of "luxury", since the very dawn of that concept itself. Longevity. As electric vehicles accelerate the pace of technological change, cars risk becoming short-lived consumer electronics rather than long-term possessions.  This episode argues that legacy OEMs should stop chasing iteration cycles they can’t win and instead lean into something Chinese EV brands cannot easily replicate: the idea of the forever car. We explore: Why Chinese manufacturers are structurally advantaged in fast-turn hardwareHow durability, repairability, and long-term support can become premium featuresWhy emotional attachment and mechanical longevity matter more in an EV eraHow Toyota already benefits from “keep it forever” logicWhy longevity is a strategic counter-positioningIn a world racing toward even more disposability, permanence is luxurious, a benefit for which legacy car makers can charge a premium #AutomotiveIndustry #EVStrategy #ChineseEVs #China #ForeverCar #AutomotiveDesign #FutureOfCars #ElectricVehicles #BrandStrategy #Toyota #Porsche #BMW #Lexus #MercedesBenz #Ferrari #Lamborghini #McLaren #AutomotiveBusiness #VaucherAnalytics Contact the show: contact@vaucheranalytics.com Brought to you by the Motorsports Sponsorship Accelerator, the most cutting-edge resource to help you learn how to develop meaningful sponsorship relationships. To contact Return On Racing, please send an email to contact@vaucheranalytics.com

    13 min

  4. DEC 11

    Part 2 - The Swiss Watch Strategy: Why Legacy Automakers Must Pivot To It Now…Or Be Crushed By Chinese EVs

    Relevant links for this episode: The Swiss Watch Strategy: Why Legacy Automakers Must Pivot To It Now...Or Be Crushed By Chinese EVsThe Next 100 Years of Motorsport: What Will Racing Look Like In 2125?Racing, Politics and Power: Why Porsche's WEC Threat Isn't Really About MoneyThe Porsche 963 RSP Is a Masterclass In Motorsport MarketingSign up for the Return On Racing newsletterIn this episode, we explore a provocative thesis: the future of legacy carmakers may depend not on more tech, more screens, or more range, but on adopting the same survival strategy that saved the Swiss watch industry. Legacy automakers are losing the EV war. Chinese manufacturers have stripped away the old differentiators: engineering, reliability, efficiency, even perceived luxury.  When a BYD can match a BMW on refinement and beat it on price and tech, the old “premium” narrative collapses. So what’s left? Identity.  Storytelling. "The Ultimate Driving Machine".  This is the Swiss playbook.  Mechanical watches should have died decades ago, yet they thrived by becoming cultural artifacts, emotional objects, and status anchors.  They stopped competing on specs and started competing on meaning. Automakers must do the same. In this episode, we break down:  Why Chinese EV competitiveness is not a temporary shock but a structural shift Why technology alone is a dead end for legacy OEMs The exact components of a “Swiss Watch Strategy” for carmakers Why the real battle will be fought in lifestyle positioning, heritage framing, and emotional product design And why those who fail to pivot will go the way of the companies that dismissed quartz as a fadThe automotive world is entering its own Quartz Crisis.  #AutomotiveIndustry #ChineseEVs #CarIndustryAnalysis #BrandStrategy #LuxuryBranding #SwissWatches #Ferrari #Porsche #BMW #China #BYD #MarketingStrategy #FutureOfCars #AutomotiveBusiness #SwissMade #VaucherAnalytics Contact the show: contact@vaucheranalytics.com Brought to you by the Motorsports Sponsorship Accelerator, the most cutting-edge resource to help you learn how to develop meaningful sponsorship relationships. To contact Return On Racing, please send an email to contact@vaucheranalytics.com

    23 min

  5. DEC 11

    Part 1 - The Swiss Watch Strategy: Why Legacy Automakers Must Pivot To It Now…Or Be Crushed By Chinese EVs

    Relevant links for this episode: The Swiss Watch Strategy: Why Legacy Automakers Must Pivot To It Now...Or Be Crushed By Chinese EVsThe Next 100 Years of Motorsport: What Will Racing Look Like In 2125?Sign up for the Return On Racing newsletterIn this episode, we explore a provocative thesis: the future of legacy carmakers may depend not on more tech, more screens, or more range, but on adopting the same survival strategy that saved the Swiss watch industry. Legacy automakers are losing the EV war. Chinese manufacturers have stripped away the old differentiators: engineering, reliability, efficiency, even perceived luxury. When a BYD can match a BMW on refinement and beat it on price and tech, the old “premium” narrative collapses. So what’s left? Identity.  Storytelling. "The Ultimate Driving Machine".  This is the Swiss playbook.  Mechanical watches should have died decades ago, yet they thrived by becoming cultural artifacts, emotional objects, and status anchors.  They stopped competing on specs and started competing on meaning. Automakers must do the same. In this episode, we break down:  Why Chinese EV competitiveness is not a temporary shock but a structural shift Why technology alone is a dead end for legacy OEMs The exact components of a “Swiss Watch Strategy” for carmakers Why the real battle will be fought in lifestyle positioning, heritage framing, and emotional product design And why those who fail to pivot will go the way of the companies that dismissed quartz as a fadThe automotive world is entering its own Quartz Crisis.  #AutomotiveIndustry #ChineseEVs #CarIndustryAnalysis #BrandStrategy #LuxuryBranding #SwissWatches #Ferrari #Porsche #BMW #China #BYD #MarketingStrategy #FutureOfCars #AutomotiveBusiness #SwissMade #VaucherAnalytics Contact the show: contact@vaucheranalytics.com Brought to you by the Motorsports Sponsorship Accelerator, the most cutting-edge resource to help you learn how to develop meaningful sponsorship relationships. To contact Return On Racing, please send an email to contact@vaucheranalytics.com

    24 min

  6. DEC 8

    The Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: The WRC

    Relevant links for this episode: The Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: The WRCThe Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: The WEC and IMSAThe Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: IndyCarPlatform Wars: What Video Game Consoles Can Teach Us About Motorsports Regulations In the WEC and WRCHayden Paddon's View On the State of Rallying (via SPIN, The Rally Pod)Sign up for the Return On Racing newsletterThe World Rally Championship just delivered one of the most dramatic seasons in motorsport… and almost no one noticed. In this episode, we break down why the WRC remains one of the most electrifying (but most underperforming) motorsport series in the world.  From Rovanperä’s shock retirement and Ogier’s ninth title to Solberg’s breakout and the final-stage thriller, the sporting product is exceptional. So why is rallying still invisible to the mainstream? We examine: Why rallying is the most democratic motorsport yet the least accessibleHow the WRC’s media strategy is suppressing its own growthWhy the US market remains the missing pieceThe implications of the FIA reopening the promoter tenderThe real reason manufacturers are hesitating, and why the WRC2 may be the key to revivalWhat a modern, coherent mission for the WRC should look likeCan the WRC go back to being the motorsport of the people?  #WRC #Rally #WorldRallyChampionship #Motorsport #Rallying #Rally1 #WRC2025 #RallyFans #RallyCar #RallyLife #RallyStage #RallyDrivers #RallyHighlights #MotorsportAnalysis #MotorsportBusiness #MotorsportStrategy #VaucherAnalytics #StateOfMotorsport #KalleRovanpera #SebastienOgier #OliverSolberg #ToyotaGazooRacing Contact the show: contact@vaucheranalytics.com Brought to you by the Motorsports Sponsorship Accelerator, the most cutting-edge resource to help you learn how to develop meaningful sponsorship relationships. To contact Return On Racing, please send an email to contact@vaucheranalytics.com

    16 min

  7. NOV 27

    Part 2 - The Next 100 Years Of Motorsport: What Will Racing Look Like In 2125?

    Relevant links for this episode: The Next 100 Years of Motorsport: What Will Racing Look Like In 2125?Racing's Second Revolution (Part 3): The Roadmap to Move Away From Sponsorship and Towards Owned RevenuesRacing, Politics and Power: Why Porsche's WEC Threat Isn't Really About MoneyThe BlackBird66 projectSign up for the Return On Racing newsletterWhat will motorsport actually look like in the year 2125? In this episode, we use the last 100 years of racing as a launchpad to imagine the next 100, not just in F1, but across endurance racing, rally, IndyCar and beyond.  If a 1950's Alfa Romeo driver would think a modern F1 car was built by aliens, what will our great-grandchildren think of today’s machines? We break the future down into six big questions: Who wants to race in 2125? Why motorsport will be fundamental to the growth of Chinese brands and the survival of legacy brands.Who gets to race? How ultra-realistic simracing kills the old karting ladder and becomes the main talent pipeline.Why real tracks still matter in a world where VR can simulate perfect racing from your sofa.Sustainability or extinction: why motorsport will need to be effectively zero-emission just to justify its existence.Who pays for racing? How the classic sponsorship model shrinks and owned IP, fan bases, and targeted partnerships take over.Technology and safety: AI everywhere except making decisions on-track, combustion as a luxury experience, printed/grown cars, and an era of near-certain survivability for drivers. A crash is no longer something the chassis passively absorbs, it’s something the cockpit actively responds to.#Motorsport #F1 #Formula1 #FutureOfRacing #SimRacing #WEC #IMSA #IndyCar #WRC #RacingHistory #MotorsportBusiness #SustainableRacing #VirtualRacing #EsportsRacing #MotorsportStrategy #Strategy #VaucherAnalytics Contact the show: contact@vaucheranalytics.com Brought to you by the Motorsports Sponsorship Accelerator, the most cutting-edge resource to help you learn how to develop meaningful sponsorship relationships. To contact Return On Racing, please send an email to contact@vaucheranalytics.com

    23 min

  8. NOV 27

    Part 1 - The Next 100 Years Of Motorsport: What Will Racing Look Like In 2125?

    Relevant links for this episode: The Next 100 Years of Motorsport: What Will Racing Look Like In 2125?Racing's Second Revolution (Part 3): The Roadmap to Move Away From Sponsorship and Towards Owned RevenuesRacing, Politics and Power: Why Porsche's WEC Threat Isn't Really About MoneySign up for the Return On Racing newsletterWhat will motorsport actually look like in the year 2125? In this episode, we use the last 100 years of racing as a launchpad to imagine the next 100, not just in F1, but across endurance racing, rally, IndyCar and beyond.  If a 1950's Alfa Romeo driver would think a modern F1 car was built by aliens, what will our great-grandchildren think of today’s machines? We break the future down into six big questions: Who wants to race in 2125? Why motorsport will be fundamental to the growth of Chinese brands and the survival of legacy brands.Who gets to race? How ultra-realistic simracing kills the old karting ladder and becomes the main talent pipeline.Why real tracks still matter in a world where VR can simulate perfect racing from your sofa.Sustainability or extinction: why motorsport will need to be effectively zero-emission just to justify its existence.Who pays for racing? How the classic sponsorship model shrinks and owned IP, fan bases, and targeted partnerships take over.Technology and safety: AI everywhere except making decisions on-track, combustion as a luxury experience, printed/grown cars, and an era of near-certain survivability for drivers.#Motorsport #F1 #Formula1 #FutureOfRacing #SimRacing #WEC #IMSA #IndyCar #WRC #RacingHistory #MotorsportBusiness #SustainableRacing #VirtualRacing #EsportsRacing #MotorsportStrategy #Strategy #VaucherAnalytics Contact the show: contact@vaucheranalytics.com Brought to you by the Motorsports Sponsorship Accelerator, the most cutting-edge resource to help you learn how to develop meaningful sponsorship relationships. To contact Return On Racing, please send an email to contact@vaucheranalytics.com

    22 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Return on Racing is the podcast where motorsport meets money. Hosted by motorsports business strategist David Vaucher, each episode breaks down how racing teams, sponsors, series, and sim racers can improve sponsorship ROI, manage rising costs, and build sustainable growth models in a rapidly changing industry.  

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