As part of the new GT World regulation set, manufacturers would only be allowed one private team to campaign their cars in the Championship instead of the two teams required in previous seasons. This expanded the championships to include ten or more manufacturers instead of the previous five and six. Seven teams and manufacturers were initially announced by Stéphane Ratel during a press conference at the Spa 24 Hours in July 2011, with several 2011 teams returning, including Young Driver AMR, Münnich Motorsport, JR Motorsport, Marc VDS and Belgian Racing. However, Marc VDS and Belgian Racing later withdrew their entries in order to concentrate on their Blancpain Endurance Series teams, while Young Driver AMR later moved to the ADAC GT Masters and JR Motorsport and Sumo Power withdrew to campaign the FIA World Endurance Championship. 2011 FIA GT1 World Champions Hexis Racing later announced their return to the series, joining with manufacturer McLaren, while Münnich switched to Mercedes-Benz.
