welcome back peter...I hope !

[Paul]

I wonder why Toyota wouldn't just sell their place to Sauber for 1$ and save themselves some further blushes...

[Fil]

I wonder why Toyota wouldn't just sell their place to Sauber for 1$ and save themselves some further blushes...

Because the market value for an entry may be higher.
Don't forget they would want to offset the cost of a 700-strong factory consisting of about 550 redundancy packages too.
That's why a package selling to a group like Stefan GP for 2yrs use of their factory is so enticing, it covers the contracts of its employees, and frees itself from any legal issues with the FIA.

[ESPImperium]

I wonder why Toyota wouldn't just sell their place to Sauber for 1$ and save themselves some further blushes...

Because theres money to be made in them there hills.

Basically ill put it this way. It would be win-win (see James Allens recent blog to get what im meaning) for Toyota to lease the facility out for 2 years. Engine $5million p/a, Facility $5million p/a, lease of the entry certificate $5million and lastly, rental of Kobiyashi $5million. They could make $20million p/a for each of the 2 years they need to give notice of departure in F1. Meaning that the facility is kept active in a lean format, they get Kobiyashi plenty experience, they keep brand exposure in the sport, allbeit on one single team, and the thing is that if the global recession blows over in about 2 years time, the team is in state of ready-ness to be re-activated and for Toyota to become a full constructor in F1 again. And for the $40million theyd get for the 2 years lease of their assets, they would only need to cover the costs of mantaining the buildings and development and mantanance of the powerplant, whitch would only cme to arround $40million so they would be money neutral for the 2 years.

After the 2 years, they would then decide to stay on as a engine supplyer only or exit completly or become a full constructor again. Its a less risk averse strategy other than paying the $150million fines and then the same ammount to lay off most of its employees. A strategy that Tokyo will like more than loosing roughly/almost $300million overnight.

I can sence a 14 team grid coming for 2010, but with only 26 spaces on the grid, meaning some drivers may be left in the motorhome on Sunday watching the race on a 42" Widescreen LCD or Plasma TV.

[Paul]

It isn't like they don't have any money on their accounts. Switching to other projects like Le Mans could be a logical choice. This Stefan thing, on the other hand, could be pretty similar to Quadback. Together with a possible lawsuit from FIA that might become a serious blow for their reputation.

[Fil]

It isn't like they don't have any money on their accounts.

try saying that to their investors, who are expecting a monetary return.

we're talking about a company where, quite rightly, their primary objective is to make money for itself and its shareholders.

[Paul]

My point is that potential marketing loss could be much bigger. BMW were greedy and look how that ended. Honda threw away half a billion maybe, but made a dignified exit and will be remembered by some as creators of one of the most dominating cars in history of F1.

The reason I am posting this in this thread is because I feel sorry for Sauber who despite being a proven team with a proven leader are now facing uncertainty while Toyota are trying to save a penny by their standards.

[Fil]

i agree with you, and i think most prefer the Sauber team over the corporate failing that Toyota F1 have been.

But when you look at who Toyota targets with its vehicles, the F1 audience isn't really their primary target. F1 fans with a deep interest in what goes on is much smaller than the viewing audience who only watch what races, and much much smaller than the targeted marketing base that is looking to buy a car, and couldn't care less about F1.

F1 brand association has been shown to have a lasting effect of 3-5 years for major sponsorships. So Toyota has plenty of residual marketing effect left in its F1 participation.