Meeke: There will be no "dominant force" in WRC 2017

The combination of Sebastien Ogier and Volkswagen has proven unstoppable for the last four seasons, a period of domination that followed nine season of hegemony by Sebastien Loeb and Citroen.

However, after Volkswagen's exit from the WRC, a new team - one of Hyundai, Citroen, M-Sport and Toyota - is set to triumph in 2017.

The upcoming season will also see a new set of regulations in the series, and Meeke doesn't expect any of the teams to be able to achieve what Volkswagen did in the past.

"It's a completely new era and I don't think it will ever be as open. It's very difficult to see a dominant force," Meeke told Motorsport.com. "I think next year will be at least equally exciting as in the past if not even more so.

"We have a new set of regulations and VW's departure leaves Ogier with M-Sport, [Jari-Matti] Latvala with Toyota. Now all four teams have top-line rally winners.

"Ogier for sure has been the dominant force for the last four to five years, Latvala is a proven rally winner, championship contender, [Thierry] Neuville showed strength this year, coming back to second in the championship.

"[Hayden] Paddon is also ready to win more rallies, so every team has the drivers, and there is an incredible spread over all the teams. It's going to be an open and exciting year for sure."

While Meeke said the departure of Volkswagen is not good for the sport, he also commented the German brand's exit could help in making the series more exciting.

"It's never good when a big team like that departs the sport, but it's the life, part of the motorsport game, someone can turn the lights off overnight," added the Ulsterman. "They were at the behest of the car manufacturer's decision.

"It was not nice to see them depart but like everything, with every cloud there is a silver lining and I think next year it will be even more exciting."

Additional reporting by Khodr Rawi