Mikkelsen (28) will drive a Hyundai WRC car for the final three rounds of 2017 and, although he will definitely partner Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo at the Spanish event on October 5-8, the line-up for Wales Rally GB on October 26-29 and Rally Australia on November 16-19 is undecided.
''All three of our existing crews will remain under contract but the specific driver line-up will differ in each of the remaining rounds of the season, details of which will be announced in due course,'' Hyundai Motorsport announced yesterday.
Team principal Michel Nandan said reaching this decision was ''not easy'' but an open discussion was held with all three crews. This ''adjustment'' was necessary to reinvigorate its manufacturers' title hopes, as Hyundai trails M-Sport World Rally Team by 64 points after unsatisfactory performances at the most recent rounds in Finland and Germany.
''We have lost ground in the manufacturers' ' championship in recent rallies, so the difficult decision to adjust crews has been made in an effort to close the gap to M-Sport in the final three rounds,'' Nandan said.
Paddon initially did not want to comment on the situation, but in his regular newsletter emailed last night wrote: ''It's obviously disappointing but I accept it's part of the professional sporting world.
'' In fact, this is only fuel to come back stronger and prove what we can do with the final rallies this year.''
Hyundai confirmed that discussions with Mikkelsen, who finished third in the WRC Drivers' Championship in 2014, 2015 and 2016, have been ongoing since he lost his full-time drive when Volkswagen Motorsport left the WRC at the end of 2016.
He tested with Hyundai in Portugal in April, but speculation he would join its line-up soon after came to nothing.
''However, with us losing ground, we decided to re-evaluate the situation,'' Nandan said.
In recent months, Mikkelsen and co-driver Anders Jaeger-Synnevaag had joined the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi team, driving the C3 car in three rallies, culminating in second place at last month's Rally Germany.
Mikkelsen said he and co-driver Anders Jaeger-Synnevaag were ''delighted to be joining Hyundai Motorsport''
and expressed hope his stint with Hyundai would be ''the start of something more long-term'', which could see a battle waged for the three Hyundai seats next year.
Paddon has had a tough season, which opened in the worst possible way when a spectator died following a collision with his rally car at January's opening round in Monte Carlo.
Partway through the season Paddon changed from long-term co-driver John Kennard, of Blenheim, who has retired, to younger British navigator Seb Marshall but the top WRC finishes have mostly eluded him.
A runner-up finish at Rally Poland in July has been the highlight of an otherwise disappointing year for the Kiwi driver, who expects nothing but the best from himself.
He is ninth in the WRC points, a long way off his fourth place overall in 2016 when he achieved three podiums, plus six top-five finishes.
Paddon has previously stated ''this year has been hugely difficult for [him] for many reasons''and, despite this latest setback, he will still get some seat time back home.
His Kiwi fans can see him in action at next weekend's 1.7km Ashley Forest Rallysprint in North Canterbury. Then he will have a longer-format run in the car at the two-day Tauranga-based Rally New Zealand in November.
