Ford Rejoining WRC as Full Factory Team in 2028

Sixteen years after pulling its official factory dollars out of top-flight rallying, Ford is coming back to the World Rally Championship with a full works team.

The Blue Oval will officially rejoin the series as a full-fledged manufacturer for the 2028 season, renewing its longstanding alliance with British outfit M-Sport. While M-Sport has kept the Ford flag flying as an independent privateer with technical assistance, this new push reinstates the true factory team last seen in 2012.

The move fills a glaring void in Ford’s global motorsport empire, which already spans Formula 1, WEC, IMSA, NASCAR, and the Dakar Rally.

Engineering "Rally-Bred" European Road Cars

This isn't just about collecting hardware for the trophy case in Dearborn. Ford plans to use the WRC as the literal proving ground for a new crop of European-market passenger cars set to fill the void left by the departed Fiesta and Focus.

"You can't fake it on Europe’s roads, which is why a car’s responsiveness and handling matters," said Jim Baumbick, Ford’s European boss. "The WRC is the ultimate proving ground for control and driver engagement, and that is the exact spirit and lessons learned we are injecting into our next generation of passenger vehicles."

Ford Racing chief Mark Rushbrook echoed that sentiment, noting the team intends to go back to the WRC not just to win, but to bring those insights straight to daily drivers. "This is not just a marketing buzzword," Baumbick added. "Our philosophy is that we're going to make a promise to our customers to wire in the emotion, the soul, the responsiveness, and capability that rally brings."

New Spaceframe Rules and a 2029 Silhouette Racer

Ford will step up its collaboration with M-Sport immediately before taking full operational control in 2028. Under the FIA’s WRC27 regulations, teams can construct spaceframe chassis topped with silhouette bodies representing hatchbacks, crossovers, or sedans.

The factory team plans to field a brand-new rally racer in 2029 designed after one of its upcoming production vehicles.

The automaker says it plans a new small electric hatch along with "a dynamic, fully electric small SUV will carry the same rally-bred design language and drive dynamics in an urban-friendly package.

Plus two additional multi-energy rally-bred crossover models by 2029 and a rugged compact SUV member of the global Bronco family.

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