When will we hear a statement from Tamiya regarding this and their future plans for racing car kits? It would be time for that now.

I wouldn't be surprised they are struggling because 5-10 years back they released a lot of different and interesting RC kits, bodies etc. every year. 2016 They have been pretty dead I think. I would guess RC sales are going down, competetion is geting thougher and Tamiya seems to be a very conservative company. To survive you have to be innovative and create new things, thinking outside the box and not only re-release some 25 year old kits.