Peugeot pulls plug on endurance program

Steve · Jan 18, 2012

Peugeot brings down the curtain on its endurance programme so as to ensure the success of its numerous launches in 2012. (peugeot-media.com)

18 February 2012

After 14 victories in the last 16 races, including a double at the Le Mans 24 Hours 2009 as part of the ILMC championship won by Peugeot two years running, in 2010 and 2011, the Brand has decided to close its 2012 endurance programme and will not be taking part in the next Le Mans 24 Hours.

This decision has been taken against the backdrop of the challenging economic environment in Europe coupled with a particularly busy year for the Brand in terms of new vehicle launches. In this context, Peugeot prefers to concentrate its 2012 resources on its commercial performance and, in

particular, ensuring the successful launches of the 208, 3008 HYbrid4, 508 RXH, 508 HYbrid4 and 4008 which will take forward the Brand's strategy of moving upmarket and extending its global presence.

In keeping with its social responsibility obligations and as part of the GPEC (forward management of jobs and skills) agreement signed by 5 trade unions, all of the employees concerned will be offered redeployment solutions within the Group thanks to a special system set up to oversee and lead occupational training/retraining as well as internal mobility.
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Steve · Jan 25, 2012

Peugeot pulls out, Toyota tags in.

LE MANS: Toyota Unveils TS030 Hybrid (auto-racing.speedtv.com)

John Dagys | Posted January 24, 2012 | Chicago, IL
Toyota officially took the wraps off its newest Le Mans challenger Tuesday at Paul Ricard, as the Japanese manufacturer gears up for its comeback to top-flight prototype racing for the first time in more than a decade.

Further details about the factory program were also revealed, including confirmation of a two-car attack at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and its debut at the Six Hours of Spa FIA World Endurance Championship race in May.

The all-new LMP1 contender, built at Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne, Germany, has been named the TS030 Hybrid, continuing its naming pattern from the TS010 and TS020 prototypes that competed in the twice-around-the-clock French classic in the â€˜90s.

"Of course we would love to win Le Mans; that is the dream for all competitors in this race. But we are realistic and we know we need to develop and to learn in order to compete with some very strong competition,â€ said team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita.

â€œEveryone involved in designing, developing and preparing the car â€“ both at TMG and at Motor Sport Division in Japan â€“ has worked incredibly hard to reach this point and we are all very excited to be back on the race track again.â€

Featuring an all-new 3.4-liter V8 normally aspirated gasoline engine, the TS030 combines Toyotaâ€™s hybrid system powertrain, the first to be entered in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The rear-motor system, developed by Denso, will produce a maximum of 500 kilojoules between braking zones, as limited in ACO rules.

â€œThe regulations for hybrid powertrains allow us to recover energy under braking and release this to improve acceleration out of a corner, delivering lap-time benefit,â€ explained technical director Pascal Vasselon. â€œFor any given performance level, a hybrid powertrain will achieve this with less fuel so it is an extremely relevant technology and one we are excited to be bringing to endurance racing.

â€œAnother key point in our development phase has been delivering aerodynamic efficiency. The development team at TMG has worked very hard to achieve an optimum aero concept using our state-of-the-art aero development processes based on combined wind tunnel testing and CFD.â€

The car participated in its first roll-out at Paul Ricard on Jan. 11, with lead driver Alex Wurz taking the first laps. Since then, the two-time Le Mans winner and Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre have clocked miles in the LMP1 challenger. Third driver Kaz Nakajima has yet to test the TS030 Hybrid.

â€œIt was cool to drive the TS030 HYBRID car for the first time,â€ Wurz said. â€œJust leaving the garage on the electric power is very futuristic, then when you let the clutch go and the internal combustion engine kicks in it is like an old friend has returned! When we put on the slick tire I could feel the car generates a very good amount of grip so I think we have a good base and I think we can turn this into a really fast car.â€

Lapierre, who won last yearâ€™s Twelve Hours of Sebring in an ORECA Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP, also shared similar feelings to fellow former Peugeot driver Wurz.

â€œIt is totally different from anything I have known before because the philosophy is different,â€ Lapierre said. â€œSo our roll-out was promising and we saw the carâ€™s potential on several levels; we still have plenty of work to do but I think that we will have a strong package. We are starting from a blank page so the challenge is exciting.â€

Toyota says the TS030 completed â€œseveral hundred kilometersâ€ in both day and night, which saw Hiroaki Ishiura also spend time behind the wheel. The 30-year-old Japanese driver is a candidate to join the driver lineup for races they run two cars, which would include Le Mans.

Additionally, Italian Andrea Caldarelli has joined Toyota Racing as a junior driver, with the final driver lineup for the second car yet to determined.

Despite Peugeotâ€™s shock withdrawal from the factory prototype competition, Toyota will still only compete in a limited WEC season, skipping the Twelve Hours of Sebring and instead making its debut at the second round in Spa.

In addition to a two-car assault at Le Mans, further rounds have yet to be confirmed, although itâ€™s a near certainty the squad will be present for its home race at Fuji Speedway in October.
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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViGR1Hw65e4]TOYOTA TS030 Hybrid - Onboard with Alex Wurz - YouTube[/ame]

Crashton · Jan 25, 2012

I'm sorry to see Pug pull out, but Toyota running their Prius prototype will be interesting.

Steve · Jan 26, 2012

Peugeot says withdrawal from international motorsport only temporary (Autoweek.com)

By: Gary Watkins on 1/26/2012

Peugeot's 908 LMP1 sports-car program was axed ahead of the closing date for entries for the new FIA World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours last week, but the company has stressed that it is not the end for its Peugeot Sport facility near Paris.

A spokesman for Automobiles Peugeot said that it was the company's intention to return to motorsport, most likely in the WEC, possibly as early as 2013.

â€œThis should be and must be a temporary compromise,â€ the spokesman said. â€œI cannot say that we will not be in the WEC next season. We will try to be back in motorsport next year. Maybe 2013 is a little too early, but we are definitely not closing the door.â€

Peugeot opted not to push into a sixth season of sports-car racing after a poor sales year in key markets in 2011. It decided to cut the 908 turbodiesel program in favor of concentrating its resources on the launch of a number of new models, including hybrid versions of its 3008 hatchback and the 508 family car.

The company had planned to race the second-generation 908 turbodiesel in hybrid form in this year's WEC. The 908 HYbrid4 has been testing on track since October.

A swift return to sports-car racing or any other form of motorsport could be problematic because Peugeot plans to reallocate staff away from Peugeot Sport. It is understood that the resources, human and financial, will not be made available to continue development the hybrid version of the 908. The remaining staff at Peugeot Sport will focus on its customer racing programs.

The decision for Peugeot to halt its sports-car program was made on the morning of the closing date for entries for the WEC and Le Mans on Jan. 18 at an extraordinary board meeting. Peugeot Sport was preparing for the 2012 season, and two 2011 908s were in the United States ahead of a planned test at the Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway.

The LMP1 pullout brings to an end more than a quarter of a century of continuous top-line motorsport activity by Peugeot, starting with the 205 T16 Group B rally car in 1984. Peugeot Sport subsequently competed in the rally-raid arena, Group C sports cars, Formula One, touring cars and rallying again before returning to Le Mans with the original 908 HDi turbodiesel in 2007.
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minimark · Jan 26, 2012

....guess word has gotten out that their street cars are crap. :screwy:

Metalman · Jan 26, 2012

Somemore Toyota TS030 sounds

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bFShHZv4wk&hd=1]Toyota TS030 Hybrid pit exit - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 26, 2012

A car that can give itself a push start.

Steve · Feb 18, 2012

The real reason and the rest of the story? Lifted from DoubleDeClutch.com:

by John Brooks | February 18, 2012

Friday morningâ€™s mail for once includes the latest issue of Autosport, arriving a day earlier than of late. The cover features a snap of the Kimster looking â€œslightly foxedâ€ as Private Eye would say. The accompanying headline screams â€œKimi â€“ Iâ€™m not in it for the money. I wonâ€™t give up, even if Iâ€™m not winning racesâ€. Yeah, whatever.

Further down the page another headline really caught my eye, â€œWhy Peugeot has REALLY quit Le Mansâ€, a non F1 feature making the cover, now that is special. Then the story of a major manufacturer quitting a new World Championship and the Worldâ€™s greatest race without notice really is news.

Turning through the acres of pre-season F1 stories I reached page 34 and settled in to read the feature penned by Gary Watkins. As one might expect of such an experienced and skilled journalist, the piece was well written, stacked with quotes and facts that were relevant, a succinct summary of â€œfive years of the 908â€. Unfortunately that was not what had been promised.

Nowhere in the article was vulgar subject of money mentioned, no attempt to answer the question as to why the total cancellation of this high profile project without notice was considered necessary by the Supervisory Board of PSA Peugeot CitroÃ«n. As one of my highly respected colleagues put it, the piece read like a retrospective that might run in Motor Sport in a few years time. Certainly there was no commentary to support the promise of the headline on the front cover.

So what really happened at Peugeot to force such a draconian measure? About ten minutes on the Internet gives all the answers. Peugeot cars made an operating profit in 2010 of â‚¬621 million. In the first six months of 2011 a further profit of â‚¬405 million was accrued but when the year end was reached this had fallen to an overall loss of â‚¬92 million, a six month loss of â‚¬497 million, that is not sustainable for any enterprise in the long run.

It would appear that the company has still been turning out cars as normal but selling them in the tough market conditions at a loss. Chief Financial Officer Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon admitted inventory levels of assembled vehicles at the end of 2011 were â€œunsatisfactoryâ€. That is a way of saying that potentially, further financial pain is on the way. Back in the last century when I had a real job, the accounting convention was to value Stock and Work in Progress at the lower of cost or net realisable value. It was a fantastic accountantsâ€™ equivalent of advertising industryâ€™s weasel word, as an element of subjectivity is introduced under the cover of objectivity. Valuation of stock has a direct affect on the profitability or not of a companyâ€™s accounts. A perfectly reasonable judgement, made with all due diligence, can, with the passage of time, turn out to be erroneous. To be fair predicting the future is an inexact science and you have to do the best you can with the information available. I am not in a position to judge whether the value of Peugeot inventory held at the year end remains valid today. All that can be said is that car sales throughout Europe have plummeted in January 2012 and the expectations for the next few months are no more optimistic.

Figures from the European Automobile Manufacturersâ€™ Association (ACEA) show sales of passenger cars fell 7.1% to 968,769 in January compared to the previous year. Sales in Portugal collapsed, falling 47.4%, while France saw sales drop 20.7%, Italy was down by 16.9%. This makes it even more unlikely that Peugeot, already suffering, will be able to trade its way out the hole that it finds itself in. Will the inventory even make the written down position as at the end of December 2011 and what will be the likely effect on margins?

Desperate times calls for desperate measures. In last October PSA planned a reduction of annual overheads amounting to â‚¬800 million, coming at a cost of 6,000 jobs. Subsequently further cost cutting of around â‚¬200 million from annual overheads has been considered necessary. A race programme consuming a rumoured â‚¬50-60 million per annum would be an obvious target for both management and unions, given that any easy options had already been exhausted.

The losses will have also drained the cash reserves of PSA, so assets are being disposed of. The company raised â‚¬440 million from the sale of car rental company CITER and there is plan to dispose of real estate which is anticipated to raise a further â‚¬500 million. Perhaps most the most significant sale is that of an undisclosed shareholding in wholly owned transport company GEFCO. Even in the difficult market conditions of 2011 GEFCO accounted for 16% of the PSA Groupâ€™s profits. Furthermore, disposing of these assets in the prevailing economic climate and in the circumstances of a fire sale is hardly likely to maximise potential returns. The PSA Group is hoping raise â‚¬1.5 billion from these transactions, a tall order.

As has been proved time after time, manufacturers only go racing when it suits them, it is not part of their core activity and while bragging rights are great for the marketing department, they mean little to the employee on the shop floor whose livelihood is under threat. I have been told, but cannot possibly confirm, that the competitions department was shut as part of the horse trading that went on between the PSA management and the very powerful French trade unions. Suggestions that the programme might reappear in a year or two are wide of the mark. The factory and equipment are being liquidated as part of the asset disposal plan, I know of teams that been given the opportunity to purchase the inventory. The personnel are being redeployed within the PSA group, or so we are told. While the high profile drivers and team bosses scramble to find another role, the real tragedy lies in the fate of the foot soldiers. For over 30 years Peugeot have been a major force in motorsport, successful in pretty much everything they have attempted. The wins have been founded on the efforts of the Jean-Michels and Jean-Philippes of the factory floor, for the most part anonymous but vital to the result. In recent years they have taken on the might of Audi and for the most part beat them comprehensively, two high profile defeats at Le Mans in 2010 and 2011 being the only black marks. Those who toiled at Peugeot Sport can look back on their achievements with pride, it is not their fault that the department has been closed.

Which brings us full circle to the Autosport feature, which has a very good explanation of the recent racing history of Peugeot, without any mention of the financial issues that killed off that activity. I would have expected both inter-related areas to have been covered, especially from the headline on the cover or indeed the banner above the piece. Insight â€“ Peugeotâ€™s Pull-Out. Anyone might surmise that the sub editor writing the headlines had not read the piece.

But what do I know?

John Brooks, February 2011
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