The New Supra Might Not be a Toyota After All

According to a recent report, the new Supra might be branded as a Gazoo Racing model.

Toyota launched its new performance sub-brand in September under “GR,” short for Gazoo Racing. Auto Express reports the boss of the brand’s performance division, Shigeki Tomoyama, said “The Supra will be by Gazoo,” meaning it won’t wear a Toyota badge when it hits the market. That likely won’t apply to the U.S. however, as Toyota doesn’t plan on marketing the GR sub-brand in North America. Rather, it will be using the better-known TRD in the States. It will be interesting to see if the new Supra wears no Toyota branding at all in America.

The report also says Gazoo Racing became more involved with developing the sports car after Toyota president Akio Toyoda tested the vehicle and said it needed to be “more mobile” with more of an edge.

SEE ALSO: Toyota Launches its New Performance Sub-Brand

There’s also a bit of bad news for those eagerly waiting the new Supra. While the BMW Z4, which shares the same platform as the Supra, will be heading to dealerships next year, Tomoyama suggested the Supra won’t arrive until the second half of 2019.

Spy photographers did catch a prototype testing near the Nurburgring, wearing what appears to be the production headlights and tail lights. The car is still heavily camouflaged so we can’t get a clear picture of what to expect, but it looks like we might have to wait a bit longer until we get all the details.

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