This is a chance at a clean sheet to create a low priced platform probably starting with C2. The question is how much of the infrastructure can be clean sheet vs having to reuse the old stuff that was highly inefficient.
The article you quoted implies you can replace a 1.5 turbo with a NA 1.5 hybrid. But most hybrids are 2.5 Atkinson cycle for max mpg and a 1.5 Atkinson cycle won’t have enough power even with hybrid assist.