The potential of manufacturers at this point?

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 :)

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

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

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.

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

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.

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 :-)

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 :D ) and I guess at least they havent gone down the "green" hippy route that Mistubishi have!

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.

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Originally Posted by Plan9

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.

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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....

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Originally Posted by tfp

I guess the asian manufacturers may want to stay in APRC ;)

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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.