Toyota exec confirms development of mid-engined sports car

A Toyota exec has confirmed what rumors have long hinted at: Toyota is building a mid-engined sports car. Toyota is one of only a handful of carmakers that have built a midship performance car, so although the name hasn’t been confirmed yet, it’s only natural that enthusiasts refer to it as the MR2.

Way back in December 2023 it was reported that Toyota been developing a hard-core, mid-engined version of the GR Yaris. However, product planners thought that if it came to market, it may not be distinguishable enough from the front-engined GR Yaris. Toyota was considering a change to the entire body to make it more like an MR2.

Nevertheless, Toyota showed a midship GR Yaris a year ago at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon and has campaigned it in the Super Taikyu endurance series in Japan. In its only race so far, it came in third of 30 cars, with Akio Toyoda as one of the drivers.

Days before this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota dropped a teaser in which chairman Akio Toyoda talked about bringing a modified mid-engined two-seater to the Tokyo Auto Salon. The world went nuts guessing that it would be an MR2. Alas, it was a devious misdirect. The car turned out to be a GR Daihatsu Hijet kei truck, which is technically mid-engined and a two-seater, but no MR2. Morizo had trolled us all.

However, Automotive News now says that it has conformed with Gazoo Racing president Tomoya Takahashi that a midship sports car is coming. He clarifies, however, that there are four development stages required to reach mass production, and it’s still in the first. It usually takes four to five years for a car to pass all the stages, so the car is still a ways off.

Takahashi did have more to share about the engine, a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. It’s like the one Toyota revealed in a joint press conference with Mazda and Subaru in 2024. The partnership between the three companies intend to keep internal combustion engines alive, with Subaru developing the boxer and Mazda developing the rotary as Toyota forges ahead with a new inline-four.

“At the highest level, the chairman is determined to continue manufacturing internal combustion engines. And when we had this new 2.0-liter engine, we decided to mount it to a midship car,” Takahashi told Automotive News.

Takahashi also said that the engine will be more fuel-efficient than Toyota’s existing 2.0-liter turbo, while making more power than its current 2.4-liter turbo four. The latter powers everything from Alphards to Tacomas. In its most powerful form, it makes 340 horsepower as part of a hybrid system in the Toyota Crown. Like the T24A, the new engine will be used in gasoline-only and hybrid applications, all while passing strict Euro 7 emissions standards.

The midship car will use a non-hybrid version of the engine, and put power down via all four wheels. This is a new development, as there has never been an AWD MR2 before. There have been AWD Celicas, and it seems quite suspicious that Toyota’s hyping of a revived Celica that’s been happening since March 2023 has suddenly ceased. Last June, it was reported by Best Car that the mid-engined car would even be named Celica. Then in December it was discovered that Toyota filed for a trademark for “GR MR2”.

Whatever it ends up being called, it sounds like another sports car from Toyota is under way. That’s in addition to a possibly Mazda-fied GR86, GR GT supercar, Lexus electric sports car, and whatever continuations of the GR Yaris, GR Corolla, and GR Supra that may be brewing. That’s not even including cars like the FR Daihatsu Copen that may be in the works from Toyota’s subsidiary. It’s quite astonishing to see just how many fun cars it has in the works, but that’s exactly what the automotive world needs right now.