Toyota just announced it wanted to change the market image of its vehicles to target younger audiences and sports car lovers. To that end, the Japanese marque’s Gazoo Racing department will soon be unveiling ‘beefed-up’ GR Sport variants of most models currently on offer.
Even the cars not normally associated with motorsports – such as pickup tricks and hybrids – will get their GR Sport versions. In fact, a Hilux GR is currently in development. If it ever gets released, then the company will likely advertise it as ‘a sibling of the Dakar Rally winner’.
Toyota envisages three levels of sportiness. The first level will be limited to purely visual changes and share the market with the likes of Volkswagen R-Line or Ford ST-Line. The second one will ship with better engines, and the third and ‘hottest’ one will get the most performance along with the GRMN model designation. It will be mostly based on the current-gen Yaris and Corolla.