BMW-Toyota deal to spawn Supra successor

Toyota and BMW have announced their intention to jointly produce a new sportscar, as part of a “long-term strategic collaboration” that will also co-develop fuel cell, electrified powertrain and lightweight vehicle technologies.

Signed in Munich on Friday (June 29) by Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda and BMW Group Chairman Norbert Reithofer, the memorandum of understanding follows a commitment made by both companies last December to explore a range of technology-sharing avenues.

At the time, BMW Group agreed to supply Toyota Motor Europe with 1.6 and 2.0-litre diesel engines from 2014 and to explore further joint-ventures. Since then the two global automotive giants also signed an agreement in March to co-research next-generation lithium-ion battery technology.

Both companies have previously voiced their intention to share their intellectual properties, and last week’s wide-ranging deal follows the sell-out success of the affordable rear-drive boxer coupe that was conceived and designed by Toyota and developed and built by Subaru.

The resulting Toyota 86 boxer coupe is now a sell-out success in Australia – as is Subaru’s BRZ, before it even launches here next month – but unlike the ‘badge-engineered’ 86 and BRZ models, which are almost identical except for badging, the Toyota-BMW deal appears likely to result in two uniquely styled vehicles.

Neither company provided any details of the jointly developed sportscar, other than to say it will involve a common architecture and components, meaning that — unlike the ‘Toyobaru’ — each brand is likely to create its own specific bodyshell to sling over the shared platform of the ‘Toyobavaria’.

Toyota made it clear it plans to leverage BMW’s leadership in sportscar design and has made no secret of its desire to produce two new sportscars to be positioned either side of the 86 — the larger one representing a spiritual successor for Toyota one-time sportscar flagship, the Supra, which was last produced in 2002.

Potentially, both vehicles could be based around a lightweight carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite structure clothed in body panels of the same material, as will be the case with the first two models to emerge from the new BMW i sub-brand – next year’s i3 city-EV and the plug-in hybrid i8 super-coupe due in 2014.

Alternatively, the joint vehicle could be based on the underpinnings of BMW’s next-generation 6 Series, or it could emerge as a smaller model based on 3 Series architecture, which could revive the Celica nameplate offered by Toyota between 1971 and 2006.

“BMW and Toyota both want to make ever-better cars,” said Mr Toyoda. “We respect each other. That is why we already can take the next step together. Toyota is strong in environment-friendly hybrids and fuel cells. I believe BMW’s strength is developing sportscars. I get so excited thinking about the cars that will result from this relationship.”

For its part, BMW is likely to make use of petrol-electric powertrain technology from the world’s biggest maker of hybrid vehicles.

“We aim to further strengthen our competitive position in sustainable future technologies,” said Mr Reithofer. “We signed an MoU to this effect today. Toyota and the BMW Group share the same strategic vision of sustainable individual future mobility. Together we have a great opportunity to continue leading our industry through this transformation.”

Mr Toyoda suggested he and Mr Reithofer – both renowned car enthusiasts – would play a key part in the development program for their respective sportscars.

“I very much look forward to the ‘car talk’ between both companies’ engineers at the Nürburgring and other places where cars are developed,” he said.

“The attractive and emotional products we plan cannot be born in conference rooms. They can only be the result of real car talk where development actually takes place. And I could not be happier if chairman Reithofer and I were able to join such car talk.”

While the market separation of Toyota and BMW is clearly defined, the implications of this deal for the Japanese giant’s luxury division, Lexus, are less certain.

Toyota has showed its vision for a future hybrid sportscar in the FT-HS concept (pictured) at the 2007 Detroit Motor Show before the GFC, while Lexus is studying the feasibility of a production version of its wild LF-LC hybrid coupe (also pictured), which debuted at the Los Angeles Motor Show last November.

Toyota’s FT-HS packs a V6 petrol-hybrid powertrain that develops 350KW and 0-100km/h acceleration in just four seconds, while the Lexus LF-LC concept’s V8 petrol-electric drivetrain is expected to be replaced by a V6 powertrain that delivers 368kW and emits less than 150 grams of CO2 per kilometre.

Joint-venture sportscars are currently undergoing a global renaissance. Apart from the 86, Fiat said last month it would produce a new-generation Spider roadster based on the SkyActiv chassis underneath Mazda’s next-generation MX-5.

Like the Fiat-Mazda deal (but unlike the Toyota-Subaru arrangement, in which Toyota holds a 16.5 per cent stake in Subaru), no shares will change hands between BMW and Toyota as part of the latest deal, which industry analysts believe is in response to similar deals between Daimler and Renault-Nissan, and General Motors and PSA Peugeot-Citroen.

BMW also has a deal to supply PSA with MINI engines, which will continue. However, its newly signed commitment to research fuel cell technology with Toyota means it will cease its existing co-operation with GM on fuel cell research.

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