In early 2017, former Toyota CEO and President Akio Toyoda issued a company-wide decree: “No more boring cars.” He backed up that statement with exciting products like the GR Yaris, GR Corolla, and the Supra. Pictured here, the GR GT3 concept is all but confirmed to spawn a road-going version, possibly with a Lexus badge. Additionally, we’ve been promised the Supra name will live on beyond the outgoing BMW-based generation.
Akio Toyoda passed the baton to Koji Sato at the beginning of 2023, and fortunately, Sato shares his predecessor’s philosophy. During a press conference tied to the company’s latest financial results, Toyota’s boss reaffirmed his stance against boring cars: “A car is not a car if it’s not fun. That’s why we will never allow our cars to become commodities.” Ironically, this statement was made shortly before the new RAV4’s debut, which is not exactly the most thrilling vehicle in Toyota’s lineup. In the company’s defense, there is a GR Sport version with 320 horsepower and suspension and steering upgrades.
The pledge to focus on thrilling cars was reinforced shortly before Lexus came out with the IS500 Ultimate Edition, possibly the last hurrah for the V-8 sports sedan. However, it might not be the end for an eight-cylinder performance vehicle since the GR GT3 is expected to feature an all-new V-8, possibly the last of its kind developed by Toyota/Lexus.
Sato stated that mild design changes and incremental efficiency improvements are no longer enough to stay on top. Instead, Toyota is committed to channeling the same “passion” seen in its Gazoo Racing-branded models into its standard vehicles. The CEO aims to “instill this kind of mindset in each of our project teams” to bring more exciting products to market.
As for dedicated sports cars, Sato said they “need to be sleek” and hinted that more are on the way: “No doubt we will have more opportunities to talk about exciting cars when the time is right.” He didn’t provide specifics, but beyond the GR GT3, Toyota has dropped several hints about reviving the Celica.
There was also an FT-Se concept hinting at the prospects of a small electric coupe, but a production version won’t arrive sooner than 2027. The GR Yaris M Concept we saw at the beginning of the year might’ve been an early sign of the MR2’s return.
Circling back to Akio Toyoda, who took on the role as chairman after stepping down from the CEO position, he prefers performance vehicles with combustion engines: “For me as the master driver, my definition of a sports car is something with the smell of gasoline and a noisy engine.”
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Source: Toyota
