Top Toyota Australia exec hints at a GR Supra return

Toyota Australia sales, marketing and franchise operations vice president Sean Hanley has alluded to the possibility of a second revival for the Supra coupe as the BMW-derived sports car prepares to make its Supercars debut.

So, is the Supra really dead and gone? Yes. And no, reading between the lines at the GR Supra Supercar launch in Sydney.

While the production version’s retirement from Aussie showrooms was far from a surprise for those invested in the Supercars project, Hanley said the Supra “represents a lot for the brand” and said it was important to “remember” that both the model and nameplate have “been retired before”.

“These kinds of things can happen, but it’s more about the Gazoo Racing nameplate for us and Supra very much represents that,” he said, before underlining that the Supra’s minimum five-year tenure in Supercars would be used to push what could become a standalone brand for the Japanese giant.

“We will have GR product left, right and centre [when the GR Supra is racing] and we’ll have more of them the future.

“So when you look at it from a Gazoo Racing perspective, we actually will have product in the showroom, plenty of it and there’ll be more coming.”

So what does this all mean? Consider that around 20 years elapsed between the fourth- and fifth-generation Supras, the former built in Japan and the latter a somewhat difficult collaborative effort between BMW and Toyota built in Austria.

There are persistent rumours circulating that Toyota has taken the Supra nameplate back in-house and will launch the sixth-generation sports car in 2027 with a hybridised 2.0-litre petrol powertrain.

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