Fuji Heavy Industries, maker of Subaru automobiles, announced today that it will be withdrawing from the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) at the end of the 2008 season as it moves to cut costs. Subaru had a 19 year run in the WRC with partner Prodrive that provided it engineering support.

FHI said that what it learned on the track was applied to technical improvements of Subaru passenger vehicles using Horizontally-Opposed engines and the Symmetrical All-Wheel drive system. Subaru has won a total of three manufacturer’s championship titles and three driver’s championship titles in the history of rally racing.

Suzuki has also announced that it will end its FIA World Rally Championship activities from 2009. It pointed to a decline in road-car sales as its decision.