It’s official, Honda‘s CEO Takeo Fukui confirmed today that they’re withdrawing from Formula One ahead of the 2009 season. But what caused them to pull out? Apparently the economic downturn and the fact that they’re trying to reduce spendings and protect the main core instead. And considering that last month Honda saw a decline of more than 30 per cent in its biggest market, the US, the reason is pretty good. More to the whole deal, Honda also said that they’re not even going to supply other teams with engines, which may have interesting consequences. Meanwhile, we’ve been briefed that there are interested buyers who’d like to take over. – via Autosport
I Think its a massive shame, Honda has something to offer last season and with the new rules coming into formula 1 they may have been able to be a real force. The honda team had said they were focusing their car for the coming season, and i was looking forward to seeing what they were going to bring to another great season.
December 18, 2008 7:13 pm
Brian
As unfortunate as this news is, this may not be the last car maker to pull out of a major racing series (NASCAR comes to mind quickly). If the US market is what they are depending on to survive, every car maker is going to have to determine if they can afford to provide engines, teams, and marketing.
December 7, 2008 5:55 am