Toyota has long spent gobs of money in Formula One with little to show for it. This was to be the year results came. Things started strongly, but the team has faded badly as the season has progressed raising questions about whether Toyota has a future in the sport.
Toyota Motor Company is the biggest auto manufacturer in the world. It is also a financial dynamo, bringing in huge profits year after year. As with all companies, it has been battered in 2008 and 2009 as the demand for cars has dried up with the economic meltdown. This is particularly poignant since many wonder how much longer Toyota will continue to spend vast sums to race in Formula One with no results.
The say even bad PR is good PR. Well, Toyota might beg to differ. The team has spent as much as 4.5 BILLION dollars on its Formula One team this decade. The results? Not a single win. Not one. While frustrating for the powers that be at Toyota, the team has come to be the target of many a snide remark given its vast financial resources and zero results.
All of this was supposed to change this year. 2009 saw the team come out and be very competitive in the first few races. The team was in second place in the constructors title after four races with a total of 26.5 points. In the five races since then, Toyota has scored a whopping 8 points out of a possible 90 and has dropped to third in the points with Ferrari nipping at their heals only 1.5 points behind.
So, what does all this portend for the future of Toyota in Formula One? The future does not look bright. Toyota recently announced it would no longer hold the Japanese Grand Prix on its Suzuka track following this season. Akio Toyoda, the grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda, has taken over the control of the company and indicated it will make a return to basics. Spending upwards of $500 million a year on Formula One is not exactly basic. All and all, this looks like the final year for Toyota in Formula One as it follows rival Honda out of the sport and back to the basics of building cars.
Making things all the more fatalistic is the role of Toyota in NASCAR. The results of the racing efforts in NASCAR are much better with the Joe Gibbs Racing Team leading the way. These results are also achieved at a fraction of the cost of Formula One. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where things are headed.
Dirk Gibson writes about
Toyota for DCJAutoParts.com - where you can find
auto parts and accessories for Toyota's and other brands at low prices.
