Ford Announces End to Factory Rally Program

FordFordUnited Kingdom, 1909 > present33 models
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announced on Monday, October 15, that it will no longer sponsor a factory rally team in the WRC next season. The M-Sport rally team who currently operates the factory team will continue to operate next season with the Ford FiestaFord Fiesta RS WRCUnited States of America, 2011 > 20113 photos
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without factory support but has not committed to the 2014 season yet. 

Ford says that it made the decision to leave the WRC due to the difficult economic environment in Europe. 

“Ford has a long and proud history in the WRC, and this was not an easy decision. 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," said Roelant de Waard, vice president of marketing at Ford of Europe.

Oddly, Ford is not pulling out of rallying all together. It will offer R2 and R5 versions of the Fiesta to interested customers. 

Ford re-entered the WRC has a factory team in the WRC in 1997. Its biggest success came in the late 90s and 2000s with Colin McRae behind the wheel of the Focus WRCFord Focus RS WRC 03United Kingdom, 2003 > present3 photos
. The team has won 52 rallies to date and won championships in 2006 and 2007. 

"We understand that tough decisions have had to be made to safeguard Ford jobs, we accept the commercial reality of the situation and look forward to continuing our strong technical partnership into the future," said Malcolm Wilson head of the M-Sport team. 

MinMINI (BMW)Germany, 2000 > present15 models
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i announced last week that it will also suspend factory support to its rally team next season after just a year of official competition. However, HyundaiHyundaiRepublic of Korea, 1967 > present79 models
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and VolkswagenVolkswagenGermany, 1938 > present98 models
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plan WRC entries for next season.