Toyota Motor new motor racing enthusiast chief executive officer Akio Toyoda plants to fast-track a new, “affordable” sports car.
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The grandson of Toyota’s founder said he hoped the automaker would develop “an exciting, fun-to-drive affordable sports car and launch it within the next few years”.
He told an automotive conference in Traverse City, Michigan: “I am very excited about it and I plan to fast-track it.”
Toyoda said the car would likely be produced by Toyota’s joint venture with Subaru, but gave no further details.
Despite his enthusiasm for the new model, the CEO said the current economic downturn had created “some of the most challenging times Toyota has ever faced” but he was confident the global auto industry would recover from its current slump.
“I am confident our industry will overcome the current crisis and move forward to a brighter future. The US market will not only recover, but come back stronger than ever.”
Toyoda said the automotive industry was experiencing its most profound change since vehicles were introduced a century ago and must change and evolve to stay relevant to customers.
“Now is the time for us to seize the moment to be leaders and to work together for the good of our customer and the good of society,” he said. “By listening to our customer and working together we can better meet customer needs, we can reinvent automobiles and we can create the dynamic industry for the next century.”
Earlier this week Toyota announced a smaller than expected first quarter loss and upgraded its outlook thanks to improved demand for fuel-efficient cars, offering another ray of hope for the battered industry.
Toyota’s first sports car, the 1960s GT, was built only in limited numbers and the few survivors still around command premium prices. It had a hit with the two-seat, mid-engine MR2 (with optional Targa roof) in the mid-1980s but the larger 1990s sucessor was never as nimble or as much fun to drive.
The third generation was a smaller convertible. Toyota withdrew that from the European market before the end of its global model cycle as part of a major rationalisation of its range here several years ago.
