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Toyota Could Be Partnering With Lotus To Bring Us A New MR2

Toyota’s new MR2 could be developed as a joint-venture with the iconic performance brand Lotus, as the Japanese giant looks further afield to make its “three brothers” dream come true.

According to Best Car Web, this is exactly what’s happening. The website reported that Lotus has confirmed a partnership with Toyota to build the famous sports car and bring the name into the modern era, just like Toyota has done with the Toyota and 86, now named the GR86.

But things aren’t so crystal clear as they seem. Lotus has promised an all-electric future, and will become a company that focuses entirely on all-electric powertrains by the end of this decade. So why would they be interested in supplying Toyota with an ICE, or at a push, hybrid powertrain?

Well, it’s a possibility that Lotus could be producing an all-electric powertrain for the Japanese brand. I doubt they’d look to the past and build an ICE setup, and I’m not sure Toyota would want a hybrid system from Lotus judging by the fact their own hybrid systems are so good in their own cars. Why bother?

Yes, as you can hear, this isn’t so tight as we’d want it to be, so take this news with a pinch or two of salt despite the rumours that have been circulating Toyota and the potential release of a new MR2 for quite some time now.

For now, let’s take a step back and wait for official confirmation, but I’d love for Toyota to release a cheaper, mid-engined sports car. The world has been wanting one of those for a long, long time. And hey, who better to partner with the company that brought us the Elise?

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

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One Comment

  1. Of the many ways to describe new vehicles to be released “cheaper” isn’t one of them. Cheaper relative to what? To bad Toyota didn’t partner with Lotus on the z4 rather than with BMW.

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