New Toyota Supra 'so close'

The sensational new 21st century Toyota Supra sports coupe is agonisingly close to official confirmation for Australia.

Revealed at the Geneva show as a racing concept, which also made a brief visit to Australia last month, and driven as a production car at Goodwood in camo, the two-door coupe is expected on sale here in the second half of 2019 after an official launch at January’s Detroit auto show.

At this week’s 12th-generation Corolla launch, Toyota Australia sales and marketing vice-president Sean Hanley almost let his enthusiasm for the Supra get the better of him.

“We haven’t announced the arrival of Supra into Australia at this point, but we are this close,” Hanley told motoring.com.au, holding his thumb and forefinger just millimetres apart.

“There are still a few finer details we have to confirm, like volume and production … we are this close and we want it.

“I don’t want to mislead you guys; we are very close. We are not ready to make an announcement but I think that will be sooner rather than later.”

The new Toyota Supra has been developed on a joint architecture with the next BMW Z4 roadster and the two cars will be built alongside each other at the Magna Steyr plant in Austria.

The Supra is expected to come to Australia powering its rear wheels via the choice of turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder or 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder petrol engines.

Media reports have suggested Toyota aims to line the Supra up in terms of price and equipment against the wildly popular Ford Mustang, which has just been upgraded and repriced from about $50,000.

But Hanley shied away from that comparison, or whether Supra could attain the same sort of sales volume as the iconic pony car, which dominates the Australian sports car segment.

“We haven’t even got that far. Right now we are in the critical moment of analysing that.

“This is not about other car companies, this is about what this performance car potentially represents for Toyota and its future. This is about our company.

“I don’t want to go into it being up against Mustang or any other model. It’s not about all that. This is about making a statement about Toyota performance in the future.”

Hanley revealed Toyota dealers were shown the GR Supra Racing Concept two weeks ago when it was in Australia.

“Their response was exactly what I expected; they really want this car,” said Hanley.

“It’s important. It won’t be the biggest selling volume car for Toyota by any stretch, but it will represent a new direction for our brand in terms of sports cars going forward.”

Hanley acknowledged there was strong belief among automotive media and the public that Toyota would bring the Supra to Australia.

“We are 100 per cent certain we want that to happen,” he said. “There is a very remote chance [it won’t happen].

“We think Supra is a very strong brand and we see its very much as the genuine re-entry of Toyota in sports performance cars.”

As we reported exclusively yesterday, when (rather than if) it arrives here, the new Toyota Supra will be the first pillar in the Australian launch of the new Toyota GR performance sub-brand, which will be launched imminently.