By Alan Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Subaru's abrupt exit from the world rally championship completes a trio of Japanese carmakers stepping off the world motorsport stage in the space of two weeks.

The former champions, whose departure was announced on Tuesday, joined Formula One constructors Honda and rally newcomers Suzuki in blaming the global financial crisis for their undeniably painful decisions.

The credit crunch, with major manufacturers shedding jobs and halting production lines amid plunging sales and revenues, forced their hands.

But Honda and Subaru's high-profile teams may also be paying a price for years of failure on the world's racetracks and roads.

Subaru, one of the great names in the sport, have not won anything for more than three years and their last world title was with Norwegian Petter Solberg in 2003.

Honda, with an estimated annual F1 budget of more than $300 million, have scored a meagre 20 points from their last two seasons.

That compares to tiny Toro Rosso, formerly known as tail-enders Minardi, who won a race and scored 39 points this year alone with a Ferrari engine.

Without any major sponsors, Honda chose to promote environmental awareness with an "Earth Car" that performed so poorly on the racetrack that it might have been better off buried.

In the end, Briton Jenson Button"s car caught fire in the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix last month - a final act of self-immolation appreciated by the driver if not by his Japanese bosses.

HIGH HOPES

Honda had high hopes for next year, however, after recruiting former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn to head their team.

"It's disappointing to me, personally, that we're pulling out in this fashion, having left no good results," Honda chief executive Takeo Fukui told reporters on Dec. 5, his voice quivering with emotion.

Ikuo Mori, chief executive of Subaru's parent Fuji Heavy Industries, shed tears in announcing that team's withdrawal.

"Subaru just felt the sudden downturn in their business was so dramatic that they had to make some quick decisions," David Richards, whose Prodrive company runs the British-based Subaru team, told BBC radio on Tuesday.

Canada's former world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who drove for Honda-backed BAR, suggested that the lack of success could not be ignored.

"With the world economic climate as it is, you have to be perceived to be making cuts. I think it's more of a political decision," he told the autosport.com website earlier this month.

"You don't expect teams to leave F1, but when you look at their (Honda's) results in recent years they've been struggling. From the outside, it (leaving) makes sense."

Honda left before a package of cost-cutting measures was approved last week that should lop at least a third off Formula One team budgets next year and allow for even greater savings from 2010.

The fact that other manufacturers with similar commercial problems have chosen to stay, at least for now, suggests winning makes all the difference - particularly if costs come down.

Renault, BMW, Mercedes and Ferrari (Fiat) have all tasted victory in Formula One this year.

"There is no better platform than Formula One for demonstrating our brand values," said BMW board member Klaus Draeger.

"The cost-benefit ratio is commensurately positive." Only Toyota, the last Japanese manufacturer still standing in the two main FIA-backed world championships, failed to reach the top step of the podium and their commitment has been questioned more than once.

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)