Published on October 26th, 2023 | by Sounder Rajen

Toyota Unveils New BEV Concept At Japan Mobility Show, MR2 Successor?

Could Toyota also be reviving the MR2 with this new sporty BEV coupe?

Toyota has unveiled a number of new concepts at the inaugural Japan Mobility Show 2023 and today, we will focus on one of these concepts specifically. This is the sporty 2-door coupe concept that resembles a future version of the MR2, but, in my humble opinion, with the sci-fi elements turned up way too high. Let’s dive in.

At Japan Mobility Show 2023 Koji Sato, Toyota President & CEO, was flanked by two very… futuristic-looking BEV concepts that, at least in my opinion, took the whole “futuristic” theme a bit too far. Since the outgoing Toyota President and CEO, Akio Toyoda expressed interest in reviving the Celica, will the MR2 be revived next?

Well, it is too soon to tell but from the looks of it, Toyota’s Gazoo Racing (GR) team may also be involved in the creation and performance of this BEV coupe. After all, with the two brands already collaborating and doing well in the past, it stands to reason that a continued partnership in the electric future will also be a successful one.

Moreover, it is also worth pointing out that Mr. Koji Sato also said, “Today, I’m going to talk about three future car stories that are driven by mobility. The first story is our future life with battery EVs. They are not only eco-friendly. Electric cars also offer their own flavour of driving fun and automotive seasoning.”

“This means revisiting the fundamental principles of car making, and delivering basic performance, like driving range, as well as value that only battery EVs can offer. One example is making cars with both a low centre of gravity and a spacious interior, which was not possible in the past.” He added.

So essentially, this leads me to believe that Toyota is building a new coupe (that may or may not be based on the Toyota MR2) which will actually be practical. Yes the Toyota GR86 is widely considered as a practical coupe but in the electric future, a 2.4-litre boxer engine will surely be phased out in favour of EVs.

On top of that, with more and more brands hopping onto the EV bandwagon, Toyota cannot feasibly keep resisting EVs and pushing hybrids for much longer. Still, I hope the brand does keep pushing for hybrid technology for at least a few more years but an electric coupe is far more acceptable to me.