The World Touring Car Championship will introduce a single-specification engine from the 2011 season onwards.
A proposed move to a 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine was agreed on by the manufacturers' commission and has today been approved by the FIA World Council.
The new engine provides a solution to the ongoing disagreements between the car makers in the championship, who have had long-running disputes over the equalization of the normally aspirated gasoline cars and the turbo-diesels.
Any new model of car homologated from 2011 onward will be required to use the 1.6 turbo engine, although any current models still racing in the series will be allowed to continue with their existing units for at least the 2011 season. The FIA Touring Car Bureau will attempt to balance the performance of the new engine against the existing ones as long as both are running in the series.
The engine will also be introduced to rallying in 2011, with the single-spec unit used in any Super 2000-spec car across both disciplines.