UK newspaper the Financial Times reported yesterday that the two are set to join Citroën and Ford in the Championship, which lost Subaru and Suzuki at the end of last year.
"I've got one or two who I think will come in. I don't want more than four because any more than that and they can't win,” said Neil Duncanson, chief executive of North One, the London-based television production company that owns the series. He added that the loss of Subaru and Suzuki "certainly affected [the WRC] but no more than the overall economic scenario".
The cost of running a top rally team costs a car manufacturer around $20 million (£12 million) per year, equivalent to around 5 per cent of the investment required for a Formula One campaign.
However, according to Duncanson, cost is not the only reason that car companies are considering WRC, which involves road-legal cars racing on tracks more akin to everyday conditions than Formula One circuits.
Duncanson added that one of the attractions of joining the WRC is the road-legal vehicles being able to be sold on the car market.
