NASCAR team co-Owner Gene Haas said that he is launching a F1 race team in '16 in a bid "to double the sales of his machine tools business" to $2B over the next five years, according to Christian Sylt for FORBES. Haas: “Our five year plan is to double our sales from one billion to two billion a year. About 50 percent of our production is sold in the United States and we sell about 50 percent overseas but in terms of overall markets, the U.S. consumes 5 or 6 billion dollars a year whilst the rest of the world is 80 billion dollars a year.” He hopes that over the next five years "the percentage of our production that is sold overseas will increase from 50 percent to maybe 70 percent." Haas: "I need to penetrate not only Europe and South America but China and Asia. These are all these markets that we have a tough time even getting any kind of notice in and they really like Formula One." Haas ruled out "taking the easier routes to entering F1 by buying one of its embattled outfits or becoming a sponsor of an exiting team." Haas: "Ownership is really the only way to enter the sport in a practical fashion for my company." Haas "is referring to the Business-To-Business benefits which come from being a team owner." As there are only 11 outfits on the F1 grid, the owners "are members of one of the world’s most exclusive and high profile clubs." Haas: "Quite frankly I could have spent $100 million in advertising and I don’t think I would get as much bang for the buck as I would in Formula One" (FORBES, 6/17).
