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By Charl Bosch

Motoring Journalist


Toyota MR2 revival branded “not a priority”

Breathing new life in the MR2 moniker, which has been dormant since 2007, “is not a priority”.


In spite of a report three years ago hinting that Toyota could be reviving the MR2, the automaker’s European Vice President of Sales has instead indicated that focus will be placed on next generation GT86 out next year.

According to Britain’s Autocar, Matt Harrison has stated that breathing new life in the MR2 moniker, which has been dormant since 2007, “is not a priority” for the brand at present. His comment comes after Supra Head Engineer, Tetsuya Tada, told evo magazine that work is underway to bring back the three brothers, referring to not only the MR2 and the then still born Supra, but possibly also the Celica  for which a trademark application was submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office in September 2017 according to Car and Driver.

While it was claimed by Japan’s response.jp two years ago that the MR2 would feature a 1.6-litre petrol engine paired with an electric motor for a total output of 221 kW, and that it would follow the GT86 in being co-developed with Subaru, it now seems unlikely that the project will materialise.

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