There was a time when winning races on Sunday meant sales on Monday, but the general populous might have moved from that mentality as the race cars drifted farther from production models. Honda is the latest in a long line of car manufacturers to refocus into developing economic cars and withdrew from Formula One racing today – totally.
It’s a big hit against the racing circuit as Honda’s is the league’s largest spender with $217 million spent to keep the wheels spinning on its two-car race team last year. But that’s $217 million that can be redirected into developing new and existing technologies which the company and planet needs.
Racing is an amazing advertising venue for auto manufacturers, but it’s great seeing companies understand that they need to also develop great consumer vehicles. After all, they are in the business to make money, not plaster their brand across the world on winning race cars. Even though that’s great, too.