Mitsubishi announced Wednesday that it is quitting the Dakar Rally due to the global economic crisis, reported dpa.
"The sudden deterioration of the global economy made it necessary for the company to focus its resources more tightly, leading to today's announcement," said the carmaker in a statement.
Mitsubishi quit the Dakar, and other cross-country rallying events, as it announced a projected net loss of 60 billion yen (670 million dollars) and an operating profit of 5 billion yen for 2008/09.
In its 26 entries in the Dakar Rally event, Mitsubishi celebrated a total of 12 victories, including seven consecutive wins between 2001 and 2007.
This year's Dakar was won by South Africa's Giniel de Villiers and co-pilot Dirk von Zitzewitz in a Volkswagen Touareg. Czechs Miroslav Zapletal and Tomas Ourednicek had the highest ranking Mitsubishi, finishing seventh overall.
Mitsubishi is the latest Japanese carmaker to scale down its motorsport activities due to economic slide.
Honda quit Formula One racing in December, Subaru and Suzuki have withdrawn from the world rally championship and Kawasaki no longer compete in motorcycling's MotoGP series.