Toyota: No Plans to Produce S-FR Coupe Concept

The tiny S-FR coupe, which was introduced as a concept car in 2015, won’t be part of Toyota Motor Corp.’s “three brothers” sports car lineup.

Company officials have often talked about adding a third model to join the GT86 small coupe and upcoming Supra performance car. But an entry-level car such as the S-FR couldn’t be developed and built profitably, says Tetsuya Tada, who heads Toyota Gazoo Racing.
 

Tada tells Evo that the high costs of meeting global regulations makes the business case for any compact sports car “quite difficult.” He also notes that a vehicle positioned below the GT86 would compete against used vehicles that have flooded secondary markets since the GT86 was launched six years ago.

Instead of the S-FR, Toyota’s third sports car could be a new version of the company’s mid-engine MR2. Toyota produced the MR2 between 1984 and 2007. If the nameplate is revived, the new iteration likely would be positioned between the GT86 and Supra.

The all-new Supra debuts this year as a 2020 model. The two-seater is the first car created by the Gazoo Racing subsidiary Toyota launched in 2017.

Toyota co-developed the GT86 (initially marketed as the Scion FR-S in the U.S.) with Subaru Inc., which makes the car’s BRZ twin. The second-generation GT86, which hasn’t been formally approved, could bow early next decade.