2019 BMW Z4 Enters Production in Q4, Toyota Supra Reportedly With It
We know when the 2019 BMW Z4 will start production, and when it will be in showrooms, but what of its Toyota Supra platform-mate?
Automotive component manufacturer Magna Steyr announced Tuesday in a press release that it will begin production of the new Z4 for BMW at the "end of 2018" in its Graz, Austria plant, which first built a BMW vehicle in 2003. This news tails confirmation that the Z4 will launch in March of 2019.
This raises questions about the Z4's platform-mate, the new Toyota Supra, which BMW and Toyota developed together to reduce costs, just as Toyota did with Subaru for the 86/BRZ. A report by Automotive News Europe dating from March alleged that the Z4 would be built by Magna Steyr, as confirmed above, lending credence to the publication's claim that the Toyota Supra would also be constructed in the same plant.
The Drive reached out to Magna Steyr, but a spokesperson declined to make a statement.
Beyond production plans, more information about the Z4 and Supra is gradually trickling out, some official, some rumored. With its March of 2019 rollout plan, BMW confirmed the first of the Z4's variants: The M Performance-tier M40i. Some connect the known specifications of another M Performance package car with the same powertrain suffix—the M240i—to the Z4 (and by extension, the Supra). Citing these similarities, some speculate the Z4 M40i will make M240i power figures of 335 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque.
These numbers align with those rumored for the Toyota Supra, as presented by a SupraMkV forum user that cites an insider as their source of information, also including an alleged starting price for the new Supra: $63,500. Evidence to the contrary exists in the form of BMW's statement that the Z4 M40i is to use a new inline-six, presumably not that used by the M240i. While this does not preclude the Z4 (and Supra) from making this power figure, it does cast doubt on speculation of the Z4 M40i and Supra's purported power outputs.
We'll have to wait for official numbers to seep from BMW or Toyota to know more.
