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https://www.motortrend.com/news/toyota-gr-family-new-gr86-mr2-sports-cars
Toyota's Sporty GR Family Could Get a New GR86—and an MR2 Revival
Toyota sees growth with the GR brand and wants more sports cars. We're in.
If wishes indeed come true, there will be a third-generation Toyota GR86, the automaker’s lightweight, rear-wheel-drive sports coupe. The GR86 stands out—along with its Subaru-badged BRZ sibling and Mazda's MX-5 Miata roadster—as something that should not exist in today's SUV-crazed world, where affordable sports cars with cramped or nonexistent back seats would seem to be sales- (and margin-)proof outliers.
“The GR86 serves a very important role as an affordable, fun sports car, a viral driving environment sensation, and that is something we want to keep in the Toyota and GR [Gazoo Racing] lineup,” says Cooper Ericksen, senior vice president of Product Planning and Strategy for Toyota Motor North America.
“That’s really the mission of GR, is to continue to provide that type of viral fun vehicle, Ericksen tells MotorTrend in an interview. “So, eventually when that product [GR86] runs its course, we would want to replace it with something.”
Ericksen likens it to asking if there will be a next-generation Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. “Of course, eventually we will need a next-generation Tacoma because it serves an important role.” Needing a next generation of the niche GR86 might be less obvious because the volume is so small, he says. “But I am telling you that it does serve a very important role for the company and GR so it would be our intent to have a cool next generation.”
2026 Toyota GR86 Yuzu Special Edition
Timing of the new model is up in the air. For now, the car continues to receive attention with a 2026 GR86 Yuzu Special Edition in a searing yellow color that pays homage to the 2015 Scion FR-S Series 1.0 release (the FR-S being the GR86's first generation, when Scion still existed; it later became the Toyota 86 and, now, the second-generation model is dubbed the GR86). It has the same 228-hp 2.4-liter flat-four engine but with the features of the Performance Pack standard and a choice of six-speed manual or automatic transmission. Toyota has said it will limit Yuzu sales to 860 in the U.S.
Ericksen would not say if there will be a gap between the outgoing GR86 model and a successor, as there will be for the next Supra. “A gap? We haven’t announced when we are ending the current one, have we? If we don’t have an end date, I can’t really tell you if there is going to be a gap.”
But that would not be his first choice. “It is never our desire to have a gap. It is always sub-optimum.”
Why are we asking about gaps at all? Because the Toyota Supra went on a 20-year hiatus before it returned in 2019 for a fifth generation. But Toyota expects a shorter gap before we see the sixth generation.
Toyota MR2 Revival?
What about another sports car: an MR2 revival, which has been rumored? Ericksen would only say he has heard the rumors too and has no comment.
David Christ, general manager of the Toyota Division of TNMA, would love to have more sporty GR vehicles, beyond the GR Supra, GR86, and GR Corolla offered today.
“With the GR brand we have proven that we can build and sell fun-to-drive, affordable exciting product and don’t have to go into the stratosphere on pricing to develop a fun car. The GR86, GR Corolla, and GR Supra have all brought good excitement to the brand.”
Christ said the GR lineup has been interesting because it has attracted older buyers as well as the younger buyers it had anticipated, accelerating growth in the U.S.
Toyota's Sporty GR Family Could Get a New GR86—and an MR2 Revival
Toyota sees growth with the GR brand and wants more sports cars. We're in.
If wishes indeed come true, there will be a third-generation Toyota GR86, the automaker’s lightweight, rear-wheel-drive sports coupe. The GR86 stands out—along with its Subaru-badged BRZ sibling and Mazda's MX-5 Miata roadster—as something that should not exist in today's SUV-crazed world, where affordable sports cars with cramped or nonexistent back seats would seem to be sales- (and margin-)proof outliers.
“The GR86 serves a very important role as an affordable, fun sports car, a viral driving environment sensation, and that is something we want to keep in the Toyota and GR [Gazoo Racing] lineup,” says Cooper Ericksen, senior vice president of Product Planning and Strategy for Toyota Motor North America.
“That’s really the mission of GR, is to continue to provide that type of viral fun vehicle, Ericksen tells MotorTrend in an interview. “So, eventually when that product [GR86] runs its course, we would want to replace it with something.”
Ericksen likens it to asking if there will be a next-generation Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. “Of course, eventually we will need a next-generation Tacoma because it serves an important role.” Needing a next generation of the niche GR86 might be less obvious because the volume is so small, he says. “But I am telling you that it does serve a very important role for the company and GR so it would be our intent to have a cool next generation.”
2026 Toyota GR86 Yuzu Special Edition
Timing of the new model is up in the air. For now, the car continues to receive attention with a 2026 GR86 Yuzu Special Edition in a searing yellow color that pays homage to the 2015 Scion FR-S Series 1.0 release (the FR-S being the GR86's first generation, when Scion still existed; it later became the Toyota 86 and, now, the second-generation model is dubbed the GR86). It has the same 228-hp 2.4-liter flat-four engine but with the features of the Performance Pack standard and a choice of six-speed manual or automatic transmission. Toyota has said it will limit Yuzu sales to 860 in the U.S.
Ericksen would not say if there will be a gap between the outgoing GR86 model and a successor, as there will be for the next Supra. “A gap? We haven’t announced when we are ending the current one, have we? If we don’t have an end date, I can’t really tell you if there is going to be a gap.”
But that would not be his first choice. “It is never our desire to have a gap. It is always sub-optimum.”
Why are we asking about gaps at all? Because the Toyota Supra went on a 20-year hiatus before it returned in 2019 for a fifth generation. But Toyota expects a shorter gap before we see the sixth generation.
Toyota MR2 Revival?
What about another sports car: an MR2 revival, which has been rumored? Ericksen would only say he has heard the rumors too and has no comment.
David Christ, general manager of the Toyota Division of TNMA, would love to have more sporty GR vehicles, beyond the GR Supra, GR86, and GR Corolla offered today.
“With the GR brand we have proven that we can build and sell fun-to-drive, affordable exciting product and don’t have to go into the stratosphere on pricing to develop a fun car. The GR86, GR Corolla, and GR Supra have all brought good excitement to the brand.”
Christ said the GR lineup has been interesting because it has attracted older buyers as well as the younger buyers it had anticipated, accelerating growth in the U.S.
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