[Frinzer]

I guess it's finally fair to say that we won't be seeing Saab in WRC

But does folks here know how different manufacturers or groups are doing financially these days?? Back in the late 80's and throughout the 90's we had a strong representation japanese manufacturers. Now we have none. And how about the newer brands? I gues VAG and PSA are doing pretty well in the market but that's all I know.

It would be interesting to know more and speculate which manufacturers have at least the potential to join in WRC. And if there's a thread already, just merge this

[girlsround]

the only true potential manufacturer is subaru i think....

and of course FIAT which enters the WRC "next year" for the last 20 years....

[Markdogas]

Good question AFF!!
As you say, lots of Manufacturers are part of a 'group', i;e VW Group, which has VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Bugatti, Lamborghini, et al
Nissan-Renault are another.
It's sad that none of the Japanese are involved or are showing much interest. In fact they seem to be committed to the new WEC. Nissan, Honda, Toyota all have/ will have programmes running. As a Sportscar fan, this is great news, but as a WRC fan, it's not good news - these Manufacturers would be a huge plus to the WRC.
I honestly don't know who else could join - Kia?? Hyundai??
I would love to see FIAT, GMEurope and a Japanese Manufacturer all join - but that is not going to happen. Fiat/GM are still 'in the soup' financially.

[Sliliashdes]

WRC with promotion must be very stable and strong. Also economic climate is still very bad. Sport needs more manufacturers.

[Wrasialat]

I wouldn't be surprised to see an Asian manufacturer joining WRC in few years time, but let's hope current one's will still be there.

[Xiciljed]

I think that with some rounds in Asia in the future, we might see some Asian manufacturer in nearfuture. As we see Great Wall in the Dakar as the only official manufacturer right now. And TV is very important indeed. They said that their Mini Dakar car costs around 900 000 EUR and how many Minis can you see on the startline... that number 5! And there is no full manufacturer support behind those teams.
As for European manufacturers, I think that Reanult-Nissan-Dacia-Lada group might be the possibility.

Edit: Exatly on the same minute we are posting on Asian manufacturers :-)

[Wsjltrhe]

I guess the asian manufacturers may want to stay in APRC Although they would be welcomed into WRC with open arms nonetheless!

It would be nice to see Subaru back (Especially for me, seeing as though I own one) and I guess at least they havent gone down the "green" hippy route that Mistubishi have!

[Alliopeti]

For me I think any future manufacturer participation will be based on the calendar. If the owners of WRC want to include the world outside the Eurozone they need to have at least 16 events. Including countries in the emerging new world. This would be necessary for companies like KIA/Hyundai to enter their Rio as they would want expose outside Europe; although that zone is important to them.

Interestingly before Prodrive chose the mini, I read a AutoCar rumor that they had also considered Range Rover.

[girlsround]

For me I think any future manufacturer participation will be based on the calendar. If the owners of WRC want to include the world outside the Eurozone they need to have at least 16 events. Including countries in the emerging new world. This would be necessary for companies like KIA/Hyundai to enter their Rio as they would want expose outside Europe; although that zone is important to them.

Interestingly before Prodrive chose the mini, I read a AutoCar rumor that they had also considered Range Rover.

why are you doing this to yourself ??

If you are too young then ok it is nice that you are involved with the sport...

but otherwise your assumptions are just random things without any thought behind it...

In the past we had mitsubishi and subaru and toyota involved and the calendar was pretty much Europe based...

where did you hear the range rover rumour ?? try and ignore the voices in your head....

[MpbY5dkR]

I guess the asian manufacturers may want to stay in APRC

Why? Are you saying that they would prefer to only promote themselves in Asia/Aus rather than the whole world?

Of course the main factors in attracting more manufacturers is getting the sport at a level where it is properly popular again. If the viewers aren't there then it's not worth the investment.

[Wsjltrhe]

Why? Are you saying that they would prefer to only promote themselves in Asia/Aus rather than the whole world?

Of course the main factors in attracting more manufacturers is getting the sport at a level where it is properly popular again. If the viewers aren't there then it's not worth the investment.

Pretty much for now, I wonder how much popularity the asian manufacturers would gain from entering the WRC? Of course more manufacturers is a good thing, but the manufacturers have to feather their own nests first!

[PersonalLoansBank]

If the owners of WRC want to include the world outside the Eurozone they need to have at least 16 events. Including countries in the emerging new world.

There will never be any benefit in running events for the sake of running events. Quality will always win over quantity. There is no place for half arsed poorly conceived events in out of the way places.

If you want to attract manufacturers (or any corporate involvement) you require robust and stable rules and organisation, a strong marketing and media profile and a selection of quality events, each with an individual style & character that adds both to the adventure and the marketability.
One such event each month is ample.

Of the Japanese manufacturers I would think Toyota would remain the most likely to return to WRC however I believe even that prospect is an extremely long shot.
Who knows what the Koreans might do? They wouldn't know themselves day in/day out.

In my view the FIA blew a golden opportunity by not making S2000 the WRC formula two years ago.

[EbrsaRynleot]

There will never be any benefit in running events for the sake of running events. Quality will always win over quantity. There is no place for half arsed poorly conceived events in out of the way places.

Totally agree

[Markdogas]

Personally, I think 16 events is far too many and would be extremely costly, and that is the main problem with the current sport. The costs outweight the benefits.

Twelve high quality, well promoted, and differently challenging events is what the WRC needs.

[Alliopeti]

Interesting comments. Of course the economic climate, marketing, rules for the calendar have to be considered. I would have thought that including events like Ypres and Circuit of Ireland would be a no brainer to organizers in these circumstances. Wouldn't it also be beneficial to have an event in Russia and maybe China as well, at least the domestic Chinese car market is growing in double digits per year.

[Frinzer]

There are succesfull marketing stories in WRC like Subaru Impreza, Peugeot 205 and 206, Mitsubishi Lancer evo, Toyota Corolla etc... Surely the worldwide promotion do them good but only if the concept is solid and right. Meaning what folks here have already said. The rules of WRC should be clear and NOT chamging every second year. There should be visibility and lots of it but not based on WRC rounds.

I don't know about you guys but I surely changed my opinions to positive for instance of Subaru when I saw it succeeding in rallying on every possible terrain... as well as Skoda.

[doksSirmAdods]

I would think Hyundai is a fair chance to rejoin.
From what ive heard (I have not sighted any actual factual information) Hyundai are one of, if not the, fastest growing car manufactures in the world.
I would think that they have moved away from the stigma of being a totally cheap-and-cheerful manufacturer, and now make some very decent cars. For example, the i30 is a good piece of kit.
Finance aside, it would be the perfect time for them to enter world motor sport.

Having said that, Im a Subaru fan and Im hangin out for a sniff that they might be coming back to the WRC where they belong.

[Quonuttott]

I think the only real barrier to entry is Sebastien Loeb. Manufacturers enter the sport to increase their profile, and success is the surest way to do that. But Loeb has dominated the championship for the past eight years with Citroen. Once somebody proves that he can be beaten, I think a lot more manufacturers will be interested in the WRC again.

[Starichok]

Personally, I think 16 events is far too many and would be extremely costly, and that is the main problem with the current sport. The costs outweight the benefits.

I don't think 16 rallies would be too many. I think the problem lies with the many rallies that has no relevance to the Manufacturers. Many of the potential manufacturers are putting preassure on FIA to change the calendars for F1, WTCC, WEC and WRC to make it suit their sales markets.

WTCC has added China, USA and Argentina to the calendar because it's relevant for the Manufacturers in that Championship.

F1 will lose both Barcelona and Hungary this year or next and then there will only be 5 Europeans rounds left in F1. Spa and Paul Ricard will switch being the French GP (eventhough Spa is in Belgium)

I personally think that WRC has the worst calendar in terms of interest for manufacturers. They have no or very little interst in promoting their brands in Greece, Portugal, Finland, Australia, New Zealand and Jordan. Either these countries are too small in population and/or hit by ressescion, but the problem is that the WRC is too focused on it's historic events because the fans are in those countries. Unfortunately is the same countries where sponsors are harder and harder to find and with a decline in car sales.

I think WRC has too add Brazil, Russia, China and USA to its calendar to make it interesting to the manufacturers, otherwise we wont see any new manufacturers in the sport.

[avaicavum]

A simple cheapish rallycar came i S2000, and manufacturers and buyers signed up.

R4T will make this happen again.
So, kill off todays WRCar that is to hard and to expensive for privat teams to buy and manage.


Make R4T top dog, and the rallyworld will blossom !


The big conglomerats in the manufacturers world will keep buying eachother, that will not change. If the WRCar is simpler and less expensive, and the manufacturersmchampionship is toned down, they might allow more than one of theirs to participate.