GR86

Make
Toyota
Segment
Coupe

Many were surprised when Subaru announced it was teaming up with Toyota to engineer and build a rear-wheel-drive sports coupe a few years ago. Subaru is, after all, known primarily for having standard all-wheel-drive for its entire lineup. The BRZ is the sole exception. Along with its Toyota GT86 and Scion FR-S sister cars, sales of the BRZ have been decent enough although not quite what the automakers had initially hoped for.

Still, Toyota seems to be keen to develop a second generation model. Subaru, however, may decide not get onboard. According to a new report from Australia's Drive, the chief engineer for those sports cars, Tetsuya Tada, stated that Toyota's new partnership with BMW could be expanded to include the next GT86. Already the two are developing a high-performance sports car, and if things continue to go well, Toyota may ditch Subaru in favor of BMW as its new sports coupe partner. Ironically, Toyota owns a 20 percent stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru's parent company. Tada also hinted the next GT86 will probably be a departure from the current car.

Instead of a boxer four-cylinder, an inline powertrain is being discussed. A hybrid setup is also possible. No final decisions have been made just yet, but expect for the GT86/FR-S and BRZ trio to receive a midlife facelift for model year 2015. At that time, we could very well see upgraded exhaust and intake systems. A power boost is also a very real possibility.