By Larry Printz
MONTICELLO, N.Y. — Having just taken the top two spots at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month, Toyota’s Gazoo Racing team has much to be proud of. It’s taken years to achieve, and it’s a testament to Toyota’s engineering and manufacturing acumen. Knowing that, it’s quite remarkable that the company doesn’t design or manufacture its own sports cars. Mazda, a car company a fraction of Toyota’s size, can afford to do so. So can Nissan. Yet Toyota’s sports cars are actually designed and manufactured by other automakers. The question remains: Why?
Toyota will say it’s hard to be profitable given the market’s small size. And so it has turned to Subaru, which engineers and manufactures their BRZ sports coupe for use as the 2022 Toyota GR 86. Toyota supplies the design and tweaks to the chassis here and there. So, Toyota does have a hand in its development. Continue reading.