When Akio Toyoda stepped down from the helm of Toyota at the beginning of the year, enthusiasts were concerned the new management would put the brakes on the Gazoo Racing lineup. With the Japanese automaker deciding to heavily invest in EVs to catch up with rivals, some assumed sports cars would be put on the back burner. Thankfully, that's not going to be the case. Newly appointed CEO and President Koji Sato hints the GR lineup could even grow.
In an interview with the British magazine Autocar, Toyota's boss said "The Gazoo brand will be acknowledged for the future – and maybe we can even speed it up." He went on to say Akio Toyoda – who is now the automaker's chairman – "has a lot more time to develop cars" for the Gazoo Racing division he founded back in 2007.
Toyota Sports EV
Naturally, he declined to go into details about what might come after the GR Yaris, GR Corolla, GR 86, and GR Supra. It's been a while since we last heard anything about the hypercar as the last time Toyota mentioned the GR Super Sport was in September 2021. At that point, there was still no decision about putting the electrified machine with over 1,000 horsepower into production. We're also patiently waiting for the long-rumored GRMN Supra, which is still a no-show after many years of speculation.
As for the car pictured here, it's an official concept from Toyota. Dubbed "Sports EV," it was shown at the end of 2021 as a fully electric two-seater roadster. It didn't take long for people to assume the "mid-ship run-about 2-seater" serves as an EV spiritual successor of the MR2. The exciting concept was unveiled on the same day as the Lexus LFA electric replacement, suggesting Toyota will spice up its range in the zero-emission era.
If the Sports EV will see the light of production day, it'll do battle with the recently unveiled MG Cyberster and the next-gen Porsche Boxster/Cayman coming strictly as EVs in 2025. A year later, Alpine will unveil its purely electric A110 successor co-developed with Lotus.
