Toyota commits to F1 despite loss

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Toyota has vowed to continue running its Formula One team despite forecasting an annual loss of £1.1bn.

Following Honda's shock departure from the sport in December because of the global economic crisis, it had been feared Toyota could follow suit.

But Toyota Motor Corporation president Katsuaki Watanabe insisted: "We will continue F1 and other motorsport activities while cutting costs.

"To keep [spending] up at the current level is extremely difficult."

Japan's biggest carmaker announced on Monday that it was bracing itself for its first annual loss in 71 years because of plummeting sales and a surge in the value of the yen.

Watanabe added: "The change in the world economy is of a magnitude that comes once every hundred years.

"We are facing an unprecedented emergency."

But Toyota, who made their F1 debut in 2002, insist they do not plan to follow fellow Japanese teams Honda, Subaru and Suzuki out of motorsport.

Honda, which spent more than £300m a year on F1, withdrew from the sport on 5 December blaming the contraction of the global economy.

Last week Subaru, whose cars are made by Fuji Heavy Industries, and Suzuki pulled out of the World Rally Championships for the same reason.

Toyota plans to continue operating in F1 though warned the team would have to scale back costs.

This month F1's teams and the governing body, the FIA, agreed key cost-cutting measures for the next two seasons to help guarantee the future of the sport.

Those measures include doubling engine life, reducing engine revs and cutting the cost of engines to independent teams.