Filed under: Motorsports, Earnings/Financials, Peugeot
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PSA Peugeot Citroen has announced the French automaker will leave [Le Mans](http://www.autoblog.com/tag/le mans) racing indefinitely. Reuters reports the manufacturer cites financial issues as the reason for the drastic move, saying Peugeot will now focus its efforts on improving its sales performance in 2012. For its part, Peugeot has issued an official statement confirming the development on its motorsports site, which you can read after the jump.
Peugeot is currently Europe’s second-largest vehicle manufacturer, though the company has suffered a string of thinning profit reports in recent months. Last year, Phillippe Varin, Peugeot’s chief executive, announced a plan to save the company $1.03 billion in 2012 through a variety of tactics, including 6,000 job cuts. We now know the company’s impressive Le Mans racing effort is a casualty of cost savings as well.
Of all the rivalries in motorsports, few have been as entertaining or heated as the one that blossomed between Peugeot and Audi at the [24 Hours of Le Mans](http://www.autoblog.com/tag/24 hours of le mans). Peugeot swiped the crown from its German rivals in 2009 with its futuristic, diesel-powered 908 prototype, though Audi has won the legendary race seven out of the last eight years. That loss, however, forced Audi to abandon the open cockpit design of its R15 and earlier models in favor of a closed dome on the new R18.
Interestingly enough, Reuters reports Peugeot sister company Citroën won’t turn its back on the [World Rally Championship](http://www.autoblog.com/tag/world rally championship).Continue reading Peugeot exiting Le Mans racing effective immediately
Peugeot exiting Le Mans racing effective immediately originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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