Toyota suffers from downturn but says it has no plans to quit F1

Toyota's Jarno Trulli in action in Montreal. Photograph: Schlegelmilch/Corbis

Toyota has declared itself resolutely committed to continuing in formula one despite what promises to be its first operating loss for 70 years as the depression in the global car industry worsens.

"We have absolutely no plans to withdraw from formula one," a spokeswoman, Yoshie Matsu­ura, told the Guardian. Matsu­ura said Toyota had embarked on a major cost-cutting study but could not specify what measures were under consideration. "We know that [F1] is very expensive and that cost-cutting is the key to survival," she said.