Mitsubishi, one of the preeminent sponsors of rally racing, announced today an indefinite halt to its racing efforts in an effort to conserve cash. The "Carpocalypse" strikes again.
Mitsubishi has recently been having a pretty rough time, with terrible sales necessitating a 33% cut in production on top of cuts to investments and management salaries. A Mitsubishi spokesman on the situation said "The sudden deterioration of the global economy made it necessary for the company to focus its resources more tightly.” Thus, pulling out of rallying.
Considering each entry in the Dakar Rally costs over a quarter of a million dollars — if you don't consider the research and development work involved, which is probably an even bigger chunk of change — this is probably (grudgingly) the right decision at the moment, but it still stinks. This is especially painful considering they just unveiled their sweet, diesel-powered Mitsubishi Racing Lancer, oh the pain. [Financial Times]