Toyota Motor unveiled an LFA concept car that’s fully electric — a surprising twist for the long-awaited successor to its legendary Lexus supercar.
The world’s biggest carmaker also debuted the Gazoo Racing GT and its racing version, the GT3, to take the mantle as its flagship sports car.
The GR models are slated to launch in 2027 and will be powered by a newly developed four-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 paired with a single electric motor, the company said on Friday.
Should the new concept go into production, it would sit at the pinnacle of the company’s vast lineup as its top-of-the-line performance vehicle, showing off Toyota’s technical and financial wherewithal to compete in the rarefied market for supercars.
It would build on Toyota’s renewed focus on high-end categories, as the unveil came weeks after its announcement to reposition Century as its ultra-luxury marque to take on the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce.
“It’s a classic Toyota play: Sports cars aren’t treated as mere showpieces, morale boosters or toys for niche enthusiasts,” said Bloomberg Intelligence senior auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida.
“Toyota is again using sports cars as testbeds for advanced technologies, installing them first in low-volume performance models before migrating them into future mass-market vehicles.”
Though the LFA’s sales would be a fraction of Toyota’s mass-market vehicles, high-end sports cars often bring a halo effect that boosts brand image and helps draw buyers into showrooms.
Chairman Akio Toyoda told reporters the new models were born out of a sense of humiliation he felt each time he was passed by competitors during races.
“Without a doubt, that feeling is what drives me,” he said.
Only 500 units of the original LFA were ever produced. Manufactured between 2010 and 2012 with a starting price of $375,000 — though its current value has more than doubled since then — it’s the car that earned Lexus, and therefore Toyota, hall-of-fame status among collectors and enthusiasts.
Toyota first teased the new GR models in July at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, an annual motorsports event held in England.
It later displayed the LFA concept model in Tokyo in November at the Japan Mobility Show.
As the auto industry pivots toward EVs, Toyota has stood out for its “multipathway strategy” — the idea that the shift won’t happen overnight, and until then, customers should have their choice of gas, electric, hybrid and hydrogen cars.
Separately, South Korea’s Kia marked the brand’s 80th anniversary on Friday by unveiling its Vision Meta Turismo concept car, powered by an augmented reality heads-up display and a spacious layout.
Lexus LFA Concept
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