- While it won’t produce BEVs, Gazoo Racing is open to hybrid powertrains.
- The boss of the GR division said the company isn’t focused on making fast cars but rather on making cars that are fun to drive.
- Toyota is also investing in the use of carbon-neutral fuels.
Future GR-branded models from Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) will retain internal combustion engines, despite the industry’s ongoing shift towards battery-electric vehicles.
Fully-fledged performance models like the GR Corolla, GR Yaris, GR Supra, and GR 86, have put Toyota back on the sports car map and in the case of the Corolla and Yaris, have added new spice to the hot hatch market. During a recent interview in Australia, Toyota Gazoo Racing president Tomoya Takahashi offered assurances that GR-branded models will retain combustion engines.
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“We want to use internal combustion engines as much as possible,” he told Car Expert. “There may be a time in the future when engines are banned, but internal combustion engines aren’t bad, the enemy is carbon. We are investing in future engines.”
While many car manufacturers plan to shift to all-electric models, Toyota is adopting a “multi-pathway” approach to reducing emissions. Takahashi noted that the GR division can use hybrid powertrains to cut its emissions and is also open to using carbon-neutral fuels.
“By using hybrid technology, we can reduce carbon emissions, and we can also use carbon neutral fuels,” he said. “We’re not sure about electrification and when it’s happening. Globally, there are discussions that cars won’t all be electric. Nobody can see ten years into the future. Our direction is multi-pathway, not only EV.”
During his interview, Takahashi added that Gazoo Racing isn’t interested in making fast cars, like some of the quick BEVs on the market, but wants to make “fun cars.”
“There is a difference between a fast car and a good car. We want to make better cars,” he said.
Last week, Gazoo Racing’s boss suggested the company’s next model could be a performance-focused SUV. Possible candidates for the GR treatment could be the C-HR and Yaris Cross, but Toyota could pull something out of left field and make a hotted-up Corolla Cross or RAV4.
