Reacting to a late June report that claimed Toyota was walking away from the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ partnership to explore development collaboration with BMW, Fuji Heavy Industries president Yasuyuki Yoshinaga claims that the companies will be working on a second-generation model.
“It’s not going to be just one generation,” Yoshinaga told Automotive News.
The previous report was based on comments from Toyota chief engineer Tetsuya Tada, who was quoted as saying that Toyota and Subaru had not yet finalized the decision to continue co-development of the platform. The admission was interpreted as evidence that Toyota was planning to work with BMW to create the second-generation sports car or a replacement model.
BMW and Toyota previously established a formal partnership to build fuel-cell technology and refine lightweight construction methods. BMW has also confirmed that both companies have agreed on a joint architecture for a sports car, though the platform has been interpreted to be a midsize model larger than the BRZ.
Lackluster sales performance for the current-generation Toyota 86 variants has led to reports that development plans would be scaled back, potentially threatening plans for a more powerful edition that benefits from forced induction.
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