Having hit its manufacturer target with the introduction of Volvo to the category in 2014, V8 Supercars must now turn its attention to its strategy into the next decade.

So says Car of the Future boss and V8 Supercars Commission chairman Mark Skaife.

Depending on whether Ford commits to the Championship beyond 2013, the arrival of Volvo means there will be four or five different manufacturers represented on the grid – the others being Holden, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz AMG.

V8 Supercars is in conversation with two to three other potential manufacturers at the moment, but whether any of them join the Championship in 2014 is unclear.

“We have said we would like to have four or five manufacturers by 2014 and that has happened,” Skaife told v8supercars.com.au. “The smart thing to do now is take a deep breath, take stock of where we are, take a look at the quality of the racing we have this year, look at the number of winners we have this year, look at the concepts we have got for future product planning.”

With Ford pulling out of the Australian market as a manufacturer and killing Falcon by October 2016, Holden replacing Commodore with a global model around the same time and its manufacturing future also in sharp focus, the local automotive industry is entering a traumatic and turbulent phase.

Internationally, there is a constant emphasis on downsizing both car size and engine size as emissions and fuel economy targets become stricter.

“There is a need for us to have the next Car of the Future plan done,” Skaife confirmed. “That will embrace whatever Ford’s replacement is for Falcon, it will embrace other people who are talking to us now about what sort of vehicles they would like to run, it will embrace whatever GM’s car is. Is it Commodore?

“It is not like we haven’t thought about it, but it is important for us to consider what is the architecture of the cars over the next five years and beyond? What are the engines they are going to have?

“And in a selfish sense, what’s the best thing for V8 Supercars and the teams to derive the best outcome. That’s a very important part of what the plan needs to entail.”

As reported earlier this year, V8 Supercars board member Roland Dane has put forward a discussion paper to consider allowing two-door coupes to race in the Championship alongside four-door sedans, potentially expanding the pool of manufacturers and car choices for teams.

While Car of the Future has delivered on its target of enticing more manufacturers into the sport, Skaife admits the other fundamental target – cutting cost out of the car build – has not yet scored a bulls-eye.

Indeed, at a time of lower income into the sport there’s no doubt teams have really felt the financial burden of building a fleet of new cars, parts and spares for 2013.

“The engine cost to me is the same, the rolling chassis cost is less,” said Skaife. “It may not be totally to what I said originally – I was seeking a 25 percent reduction. It may not be quite there, but I can’t measure it and I don’t think it is fair to measure it until we have run for longer.”

Skaife’s contention about rolling chassis cost was backed up by Triple Eight Race Engineering, the primary customer car supplier in the category. T8 initially charged $280,000 plus GST for a CotF chassis, versus $340,000 plus GST for a Project Blueprint example.

However, Triple Eight managing director Roland Dane said the CotF price had now been revised to $340,000 plus GST.

“We lost money on the CotF cars as the specification changed more than was ideal after the point where we thought it was pretty settled,” he explained to v8superacrs.com.au. “But I tolerated that as there was a spares requirement as well and we ended up at breakeven overall on the initial supply. If someone comes to ask us for a car today we will charge them $340k + GST.”

Dane did have one piece of good news on CotF costs: “Now that we have the cars, and once the gearbox and brakes issues settle down, the cars are proving cheaper to run. We could have been smarter in a few areas that affect cost but it was hard enough just to get the job done!”