Honda Will Detail Formula One Racing Future Amid Quit Reports
12-04-2008, 09:12 PM
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Fairfield County, CT
Posts: 534
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Honda Will Detail Formula One Racing Future Amid Quit Reports
By Naoko Fujimura and Dan Baynes
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. will make an announcement on its future in Formula One today amid reports Japan’s second-largest automaker has quit the most-watched motor sport.
President Takeo Fukui will brief the press at 1:30 p.m. in Tokyo today following a Sky News report Honda Racing’s 750 workers were told at a U.K. meeting that the team would be shut down if a buyer couldn’t be found. Honda spokeswoman Yasuko Matsuura declined to say whether the company will quit.
Honda slashed its profit forecast 13 percent in October as the recession in the U.S. cripples car demand, forcing the Tokyo- based company to cut both jobs and production. Max Mosley, president of F-1 ruling body the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, has said the $1.6 billion teams spend annually on the sport is “unsustainable.”
“A withdrawal by Honda would highlight just how awful the situation surrounding the auto industry is,” Koji Endo, an analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo. “Other teams may follow, and the F-1 may not be held in the future.”
Honda’s vehicle sales in the U.S., the company’s most profitable market, plunged 32 percent in November, the most since 1981, as the economic slowdown and the weak consumer sentiment hurt demand for Civic models.
The company gained 0.7 percent to 1,697 yen as of 10:45 a.m. in Tokyo. The stock has dropped 55 percent this year, set for the worst annual performance since at least 1975.
Cost Savings
Abandoning the sport would save Honda at least 10 billion yen ($108 million) a year, according to Credit Suisse’s Endo. Honda finished eighth and ninth the past two seasons. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are the team’s current drivers. Ross Brawn, the former Ferrari technical director who helped Michael Schumacher win a record seven driving titles, was hired to run Honda 13 months ago.
Its withdrawal would leave the sport, dominated by carmakers including Fiat SpA, Renault SA and Toyota Motor Corp., with nine teams and 18 cars if a buyer can’t be found. The 2009 season- opening Australian Grand Prix is scheduled March 29.
The last team to quit Formula One was Honda-backed Super Aguri, which folded in May because of a lack of funding.
Sex, Spying
Earlier this year, F-1 was rocked by the distribution of a sex video involving FIA President Mosley which led to some carmakers voting for his removal. In 2007, McLaren was kicked out of the constructors’ championship and fined $100 million after its chief designer, Mike Coughlan, was found in possession of 780 pages of technical documents belonging to Ferrari.
Honda expects operating profit of 550 billion yen for the 12 months ending March, the lowest in eight years. The carmaker cut its forecast as the yen’s 39 percent gain against the dollar squeezes its profit. Every 1 yen gain against the dollar cuts Honda’s annual operating profit by 18 billion yen, according to the company.
The company yesterday said it plans to offer early retirement for workers at its factory in the U.K. and will cut 490 additional temporary jobs in Japan, as demand slumps in overseas markets.
Honda, led by founder Soichiro Honda, owned a Formula One team as early as 1964, even before it began making cars in 1967.
It returned to F-1 in the 1980s as an engine supplier, then in 2004 purchased a stake in the BAR team from British American Tobacco, which it bought out a year later to form the Honda team for the 2006 season.
To contact the reporters on this story: Dan Baynes in Sydney at dbaynes@bloomberg.net; Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at nfujimura@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: December 4, 2008 21:34 EST
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...E&refer=japan#
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. will make an announcement on its future in Formula One today amid reports Japan’s second-largest automaker has quit the most-watched motor sport.
President Takeo Fukui will brief the press at 1:30 p.m. in Tokyo today following a Sky News report Honda Racing’s 750 workers were told at a U.K. meeting that the team would be shut down if a buyer couldn’t be found. Honda spokeswoman Yasuko Matsuura declined to say whether the company will quit.
Honda slashed its profit forecast 13 percent in October as the recession in the U.S. cripples car demand, forcing the Tokyo- based company to cut both jobs and production. Max Mosley, president of F-1 ruling body the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, has said the $1.6 billion teams spend annually on the sport is “unsustainable.”
“A withdrawal by Honda would highlight just how awful the situation surrounding the auto industry is,” Koji Endo, an analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo. “Other teams may follow, and the F-1 may not be held in the future.”
Honda’s vehicle sales in the U.S., the company’s most profitable market, plunged 32 percent in November, the most since 1981, as the economic slowdown and the weak consumer sentiment hurt demand for Civic models.
The company gained 0.7 percent to 1,697 yen as of 10:45 a.m. in Tokyo. The stock has dropped 55 percent this year, set for the worst annual performance since at least 1975.
Cost Savings
Abandoning the sport would save Honda at least 10 billion yen ($108 million) a year, according to Credit Suisse’s Endo. Honda finished eighth and ninth the past two seasons. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are the team’s current drivers. Ross Brawn, the former Ferrari technical director who helped Michael Schumacher win a record seven driving titles, was hired to run Honda 13 months ago.
Its withdrawal would leave the sport, dominated by carmakers including Fiat SpA, Renault SA and Toyota Motor Corp., with nine teams and 18 cars if a buyer can’t be found. The 2009 season- opening Australian Grand Prix is scheduled March 29.
The last team to quit Formula One was Honda-backed Super Aguri, which folded in May because of a lack of funding.
Sex, Spying
Earlier this year, F-1 was rocked by the distribution of a sex video involving FIA President Mosley which led to some carmakers voting for his removal. In 2007, McLaren was kicked out of the constructors’ championship and fined $100 million after its chief designer, Mike Coughlan, was found in possession of 780 pages of technical documents belonging to Ferrari.
Honda expects operating profit of 550 billion yen for the 12 months ending March, the lowest in eight years. The carmaker cut its forecast as the yen’s 39 percent gain against the dollar squeezes its profit. Every 1 yen gain against the dollar cuts Honda’s annual operating profit by 18 billion yen, according to the company.
The company yesterday said it plans to offer early retirement for workers at its factory in the U.K. and will cut 490 additional temporary jobs in Japan, as demand slumps in overseas markets.
Honda, led by founder Soichiro Honda, owned a Formula One team as early as 1964, even before it began making cars in 1967.
It returned to F-1 in the 1980s as an engine supplier, then in 2004 purchased a stake in the BAR team from British American Tobacco, which it bought out a year later to form the Honda team for the 2006 season.
To contact the reporters on this story: Dan Baynes in Sydney at dbaynes@bloomberg.net; Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at nfujimura@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: December 4, 2008 21:34 EST
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...E&refer=japan#
12-04-2008, 09:38 PM
#2
AZ Community Team
Painful decision but it makes sense in light of the lack of progress they have shown in 4 years. Would like to have seen what Ross Brawn could have done to the team since he was highly instrumental to the revival of Ferrari from 1998-2005.
The rotary door of team managers and directors was also troublesome.
The rotary door of team managers and directors was also troublesome.
12-05-2008, 07:02 AM
#3
AZ Community Team
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/moto...ne/7766092.stm
It's official they're out. News Flash!
F1 designer/director Ross Brawn to start work on new Acura 4G TL Type-S
It's official they're out. News Flash!
F1 designer/director Ross Brawn to start work on new Acura 4G TL Type-S
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Mugen TSX
Eastern Canada
0
09-01-2015 11:11 PM