Super 2000 cars had been permitted to enter the Production World Rally Championship alongside Group N machinery since 2007, but the combination proved problematic. The performance differential between the two car classes was significant, and the PWRC's identity as a production car championship was diluted by the presence of the more highly developed Super 2000 machines. The FIA resolved the issue in 2010 by creating a dedicated SWRC for Super 2000 cars while returning the PWRC to a Group N-only competition.
The SWRC also served a strategic purpose for the FIA. The Intercontinental Rally Challenge had grown in popularity and was considered a potential commercial rival to the WRC. The Super 2000 cars that competed in the IRC were the same specification as those eligible for SWRC, and the new championship offered those entrants a world-level alternative within the established WRC calendar.
In its first season in 2010, entrants nominated seven rallies from a calendar of ten events, with the requirement that the selection must include at least two of the three rounds held outside Europe. In 2011 the calendar was reduced to eight rounds and entry requirements were adjusted. By 2012 only one round outside Europe remained on the calendar, affecting how the participation rules were applied.
For the 2010 season only, a separate WRC Cup for Teams existed for Super 2000 cars, though it was formally distinct from the SWRC and had been approved through a separate process by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.
The SWRC accepted Super 2000 specification cars including the Fiat Grande Punto Abarth S2000, Ford Fiesta S2000, Peugeot 207 S2000, Skoda Fabia S2000, Mini John Cooper Works S2000, and Proton Satria Neo S2000. From 2011, R4 cars including the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, and Subaru Impreza WRX STI variants were also eligible. In 2012, Regional Rally Cars (RRC) such as the Citroen DS3 RRC and Ford Fiesta RS RRC were added to the eligible list.
The SWRC ran for only three seasons before being replaced by WRC2 in 2013. The introduction of the Group R category, and specifically the R5 specification, gave the FIA a new performance tier around which to reorganise the support structure. WRC2 absorbed the Super 2000 cars alongside R5, R4, Regional Rally Cars, and Group N four-wheel-drive machines into a single broad category. Skoda, which competed actively in the SWRC, went on to become one of the most successful entrants in the subsequent WRC2 era.
The SWRC existed as a short-lived but commercially important series that helped anchor competitive manufacturer activity in the support categories during a period when the WRC's commercial situation was unstable. Its three-season run proved that a dedicated championship for Super 2000 machinery could attract genuine manufacturer investment at a tier below the World Rally Car class, a model that directly informed the more expansive WRC2 format that replaced it.