According to the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com the WTCC/TCR merger is pretty much a done deal:
https://nl.motorsport.com/wtcc/news/...e-2018-979676/
Short summary:
- Merger at hand for 2018 already
- Negotiations in the final stage
- Class 1 regulations proposed, but no support from both factory and private teams
- Both championships running TCR regulations next to each other would be bad for both
- Championship would lose its 'FIA World Championship' status and would become a 'FIA World Cup'.
- No more factory teams, privateer teams only (similar to GT3)
- Both WTCC and TCR Int. refuse to release statements about the matter, but a deal is expected in several weeks.
My opinion: great for both series, and it proves Lotti was right after all