Toyota Motor Corp. is planning to leave Formula One motor racing, a person close to the Japanese auto maker said Wednesday, in the latest blow to the popular global sport.
The exact reason for the move wasn’t immediately clear. But it comes at a time when Toyota is struggling with losses following the collapse of car sales in the U.S. and other major markets. Running a Formula One racing team is extremely expensive, costing as much as hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Wall Street Journal
Toyota will hold an extraordinary board meeting Wednesday to make a formal decision on the pullout, with president Akio Toyoda making the announcement at a news conference in Tokyo, the Mainichi Shimbun said, without citing its sources.
The world’s biggest carmaker declined to comment on the report.
The Mainichi said the auto giant had earlier planned to continue its F1 participation until 2012 but decided to cut costs by making this year’s season—which ended Sunday in Abu Dhabi—its last, the paper said.
Toyota would consider selling the team, it said.
Toyota entered F1 in 2002. It ended this season ranked fifth in the constructors’ championship. AFP
Toyota would follow Honda as the second major Japanese automaker to withdraw from the sport. Honda pulled out in December last year, citing a slowdown in the global economy. Brawn GP, which took over the old Honda team, won the 2009 F1 championship.
Toyota, the only Japanese automaker participating in F1 this year, is seeking to cut costs as it expects to post an operating loss for the six months ended Sept. 30. The company is due to report earnings Thursday.
A Toyota spokeswoman said she was checking on reports in the Japanese media. USA Today
