[drdisque]

actually, a Citroen privateer team was given factory status, so they do have a factory team. There are privateers running all the chassis from last year and one even podiumed in Sweden, but they're not eligible for manufacturer points.

Mitsubishi hasn't been competetive for the last 5 years, they were wasting money running a factory team.

Peugeot dropped out because it cost too much, as did Skoda.

Costs for WRC factory teams were getting out of hand, Subaru's budget was reportedly running into the tens of millions of dollars. The manufacturers backing out was a signal to the FIA to do something to limit costs in the series.

Ironically, it looks like Ford will win the manufacturer's championship this year, not Subaru.