WRC mainclass from 2027

[deephouse]

And when the world knows that other major series have more expensive cars, why do they still bring that up and flag it like it's the only problem? The regs are too closed for many. Open them up a little, maybe like more different segments of cars, engines, or power units...

[becher]

And when the world knows that other major series have more expensive cars, why do they still bring that up and flag it like it's the only problem? The regs are too closed for many. Open them up a little, maybe like more different segments of cars, engines, or power units...

Different segments of cars is and was always possible, now it is even possible without a serious penalty. There is a reason everybody went for the B segment when the rules first allowed it properly.

But otherwise I agree, the unit cost of a car is not preventing manufacturer involvement.

[deephouse]

The segment is a big problem and needs to be adjusted because, for some stupid reason, manufacturers are defuncting small and best-selling cars and they are making more and more SUVs. And then potential brands who show interest in series can't compete because they don't make that kind of car. I target Subaru here and now Hyundai with their whining about i20 retirement. Even if regs would have some segment or unit power or even engine allowed and nobody cares and all goes for the same it could be scraped in the next cycle. I mean whoever wants could enter with their stupid EVs, hybrid or normal ICE, or SUV, or whatever is allowed and bring marketing aspect to them. Then no one will whine about high costs, potentially there could be more interest in competing at the top level, more seats, new people, more competition, and maybe more interest (again) at the local level...

[WRCStan]

The segment is a big problem and needs to be adjusted

Can you copy and paste the segment rules please, because the post before you said there's no such rules.

[saco0o]

is EU's resolution banning the production and selling of petrol cars in 2035 still in place? cuz last time i saw, not even hybrids would be allowed. and some recent coments on manufacturers talking again about how "small cars" would be better for EVs.
its confusing and difficult to talk about that stuff. small electric hatches would be the way to go right now, even with SUVs being sold in the market. a shift may happen, so it would be interesting to be one step ahead of that. but the infraestructure is not there and ev racing is not fun. what a bad crossroads eh? hybrids are expensive for competition. these 100mi bucks hyundai and Toyota have in wrc are MUCH bigger than Porsche or Jaguar in Formula E, that have constant financial support from governaments "because greenwashing is good PR". wrc looks to be on a bad position when it comes to define what they will run in the next years, eh? i wonder what wtcc* foruns are talking about THEIR future too. tcr scandinavia is racing evs only. some small cupras and vws look good. theres bmw and teslas too. but should wrc start to think about evs to "be ahead of what happens in the streets"? is this really important? cuz it doesnt look so tbh, but "PR" is everything for these companied.
haha idk what to think, clearly haha

[Andre Oliveira]

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Nobody knows the future, but full EV isnt going to be the way for many car manufacturers.

Hybrid and ICE with sustainable fuel (as we have now) seems the best bet for 2027> .

The WRC Managing Director and the boss of P1 Fuels interviewed:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmo...ustainability/

[saco0o]

hmmm interesting. the best argument i read so far "on the internet" about why evs are not seeling like they thought they would is because most younger people dont have the money to buy a car or simply dont want to buy a car (ideology+uber+bikes?) and 'older generations' dont like evs, so they buy hybrid suvs because of the size of their 'family' and because its cheaper on fuel/mileage, since economics/inflation is kinda bad since the pandemic.

[mknight]

Price is the main reason. Everything else is just a consequence.

Here in Norway the % of EV sales is some 85% for the year so far. Mainly cause EVs are cheaper, though it mostly translates in people using the same amount of money as before but getting a "higher class" car. Still even if the sticker prices ends about the same the running cost is much lower.

Since there are many EVs the changing infrastructure expanded quite well and now there are no issues charging basically anywhere (faster charging speed of newer cars also helps).

Talking with my friends around Europe I totally get why it doesn't work elsewhere. Without artificial price factors high end EVs are about same price as high end petrol/diesel cars everywhere (use Audi SUV range for comparison), but the lack of charging infrastructure and the widespread ridiculous myths ("don't like EVs" as you put it) limit how many people buy those.
"Cheap" EVs are still much more expensive than cheap small petrol cars so not much reason to buy those and as you say young people don't have lots of capital.

If situation stays the same then EV sales will go up slowly in Europe. What could happen is that sales elsewhere (China) will lead to cheaper small EVs which then catch up in Europe. But then again now with the tariffs those will be expensive in Europe anyway so European manufacturers will be less pressed to come with cheap cars. So Europe ends with the lowest amount of EVs vs US and China (already the case for both) in the next 2 years anyway.

[mknight]

One small extra short term thing about the price.
With the "chip crisis" after COVID all manus upped their prices a lot (5-10k EUR) on 50k EUR cars and most are extremely slow in getting them down again if at all. Yet they all scream about how terrible it is going while keeping massive margins up until this summer. First now this policy catches up on them.