No More Toyota GR Sports Cars Are Coming Anytime Soon: Report
In case you need it spelled out, that likely means no new Toyota MR2.
After laying dormant for decades, fast Toyotas have come roaring back with the rapid-fire launch of the GR Supra, redesigned GR86, and GR Corolla, with rumors of a new mid-engined sports car hot on their tail. It's time to temper our expectations though, as the GR86's chief engineer recently said that no new GR cars are in the pipeline.
Speaking to Australia's Drive (unaffiliated), Toyota GR86 chief engineer Yasunori Suezawa stated that Toyota's GR performance car lineup is pretty much complete. Specifically regarding more GR cars, he reportedly said, "there is none left actually, so this [new GR86] is the last."
"For the GR [brand], basically this [new GR86] is the last. But we have a GR Sport [brand] that we will be [widening] with models like the Corolla, Yaris Cross, and C-HR," Suezawa added.
Suezawa reportedly didn't specify if that meant the GR lineup is complete for now or if this is all we can ever expect, and Toyota's past statements on the matter don't make things any clearer. The Supra's lead engineer Tetsuya Tada called for the return of a "three brothers" sports car lineup, though Toyota has refused to discuss whether the GR Corolla and Yaris occupy the spot once thought to be reserved for the mid-engined MR2. A rumor out of Japan indicates a mid-engined, GR Yaris platform-based model is indeed in development, but Tada has stated there's no room below the GR86 for a cheaper sports car.
What we can be sure of is that we'll see more GR Sport trims; effectively appearance packages with some minor suspension tweaks. They reportedly won't be found on any SUVs according to previous statements from executives, though GR Sport crossovers may still be in the cards. The C-HR's inclusion above confirms that.
But with GR hype at its highest, Toyota's absolutely dropping the ball. If GR is allowed to sit on the shelf for too long, or devalued with too many GR Sport models, the name will return to whence it came—irrelevance.
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