New CEO, brought in to shape the firm’s EV future, says sporty GR badge will live on
JIM HOLDER
New Toyota boss Koji Sato has hinted that high-performance Gazoo Racing (GR) cars will continue to be launched under his leadership – and he has even suggested that the momentum of development could accelerate.
Sato became president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation in January, taking over from Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, who moved to become chairman.
Toyoda founded GR and was a staunch supporter of the firm’s world endurance and rallying campaigns as he sought to underpin its technical expertise and express a fundamental deep-rooted love of cars. Toyoda is a keen driver and competitor and his job title at the firm is playfully ‘master driver’.
Speaking in his first UK interview since taking the job, Sato said: “The Gazoo brand will be acknowledged for the future – and maybe we can even speed it up.
“Our master driver was also president of the company at the same time as he had a steering wheel in his hand for Gazoo. Now he is only chairman, maybe he will have a lot more time to develop cars for them?”
Toyota sports cars on sale today in the UK include the GR Supra and GR Yaris, and the firm sells the GR Corolla hot hatch in the US.
The company has been tight-lipped on plans for future models in this performance line-up but has said it is considering a sporting version of the electric Toyota bZ4X crossover and has publicly trialled the use of hydrogen as a means of running combustion-powered sports cars.
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