In a press release, Ford of Europe announced on Monday that it will reduce its commitment to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) at the end of the current season.
This means that Ford will no longer be the title sponsor of the world rally team entered by M-Sport.
The car manufacturer explained in the press release it made the decision as part of a 'review of its European business in the current difficult economic environment'.
“Ford has a long and proud history in the WRC and this was not an easy decision,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe.
“At this time, however we determined that it was better for the company and the Ford brand to reduce our commitment to the WRC and deploy our resources in other areas,” he added.
Ford's long-term business partner, M-Sport, meanwhile plans to continue competing in WRC with the Fiesta RS WRC.
The American car manufacturer is in discussions with the Malcolm Wilson managed team to provide 'continued vehicle and engineering support', including for the recently announced Fiesta R5 for the new-for-2013 WRC-2 series, and the Fiesta R2 for grass-roots national and regional driver programmes.
This news will probably confirm Jari-Matti Latvala's departure to the new Volkswagen team for 2013 as a teammate to Frenchman Sebastien Ogier.
This means that Ford will no longer be the title sponsor of the world rally team entered by M-Sport.
The car manufacturer explained in the press release it made the decision as part of a 'review of its European business in the current difficult economic environment'.
“Ford has a long and proud history in the WRC and this was not an easy decision,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe.
“At this time, however we determined that it was better for the company and the Ford brand to reduce our commitment to the WRC and deploy our resources in other areas,” he added.
Ford's long-term business partner, M-Sport, meanwhile plans to continue competing in WRC with the Fiesta RS WRC.
The American car manufacturer is in discussions with the Malcolm Wilson managed team to provide 'continued vehicle and engineering support', including for the recently announced Fiesta R5 for the new-for-2013 WRC-2 series, and the Fiesta R2 for grass-roots national and regional driver programmes.
This news will probably confirm Jari-Matti Latvala's departure to the new Volkswagen team for 2013 as a teammate to Frenchman Sebastien Ogier.