Toyota considering hybrid sports car

[nickthaskater]

Toyota is hoping to transfer its sales momentum to the sports car segment, Toyota executives told Dow Jones Newswires Monday. And a new hybrid model will be at the center of that movement, the sources said. The new model is "going to be global project, not one aimed at one region more than another. The concept is a hybrid," said Tokuo Fukuichi, the head of Toyota's ED2 design center. "We made a proposal to head office for a hybrid sports car. We're not sure that we're going to proceed with that but every time we develop a new car we consider a hybrid system. We have limited resources," he said. Recent rumors have suggested a hybrid car could fill the gap left by the discontinuation of the Celica and MR2, and Fukuichi's comments seem to confirm that this is a strong possibility. "The sports car will come, but I don't know exactly when. Since we stopped production of the Celica and the MR2, there's a gap in that end of our range where we don't get the full impact of our participation in Formula 1," he said. In February, we noted an Autocar report that suggested the Celica replacement will feature hybrid powertrain. The 2007/2008 model is said to be mid-engined, with four seats and all-wheel-drive. The car is also said to feature a folding metal hardtop — something that has never been seen before in a mid-engine car. It will take some inspiration from the CS+S Concept (shown below), the report said. Fukuichi said Toyota has received a high volume of request for a sports car from dealers and customers. He said such a car would have to be affordable but also offer a lot of advanced technology. He said the target will be young, affluent buyers.