Should we cry for goodbye over Ralliart or is Mitsu’s divion just having a spring break?

Mitsubishi’s Ralliart is one of the more famous performance divisions, thanks to the brand’s rally winning exploits and the Lancer Evolution series’ cult following. So it’s sad news to hear that Ralliart is the latest to succumb to the changed environment the automotive world had to face ever since the global financial crisis hit. It is winding down operations.

“The business circumstance surrounding our company radically became worse and so, this time we have reached the conclusion that we Ralliart Inc, would scale down our business activities as of the end of March 2010,” according to Ralliart Inc’s president Masao Taguchi, in a “farewell letter” to customers, which you can read for yourself after the jump.

Mitsubishi’s quit the WRC in 2005, and more recently abandoned its Dakar Rally exploits last year, including all rally raid events. Mitsubishi is the most successful manufacturer in the Dakar, with 12 wins in 26 appearances, including a record seven back-to-back victories from 2001 to 2007. With this latest development, Ralliart will no longer lend support to motorsport customers and privateers. Also put to a stop is the planning, development and selling of Ralliart products.

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