Toyota's passion for its iconic Supra sports car is unwavering, and the brand's executive, John Pappas, is keen to see it continue. The current generation of the Supra, which shares its chassis and engine with the BMW Z4, is set to end production in March 2026, but the desire for a new generation remains strong. Pappas, the newly appointed vice president of sales and marketing for Toyota Australia, expressed his personal enthusiasm for the Supra's ongoing production, stating, 'I'd love for it to be ongoing, right?' However, he also noted that there are no official announcements regarding the next generation yet. Reports from Japan suggest that the next Supra will be developed in-house and will switch to a new-generation, Toyota-designed 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine aided by hybrid technology. The Japanese magazine Best Car claims that the new Supra will be available in 2027 with a power output exceeding 500 horsepower. Pappas' predecessor, Sean Hanley, also hinted at the possibility of a new generation, stating, 'Supra keeps going.' The nameplate will live on in the interim as Toyota's first-ever entry into Australia's Supercars race series, with five cars across two teams set to make their competition debut at the Sydney 500 this weekend. Although it looks and is named like a road-going GR Supra, the Supercars version drapes unique bodywork over the series' control chassis, shared with Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro teams. It swaps the production BMW inline-six for a race-tuned version of the naturally-aspirated '2UR-GSE' V8 in the Lexus LC500 sports car. Its capacity has been expanded from 5.0 to 5.2 litres to compete with the Mustang's 5.4-litre and Camaro's 5.7-litre engines, and was developed by factory Supra 'homologation' team Walkinshaw TWG Racing, and the UK-based Swindon Powertrain. Pappas expressed confidence in the decision to debut the race version, stating, 'We thought it was a great time, actually, for that particular car, because in actual fact, that car was the first GR performance car in 2019 for the brand.' The five Supercars entries join GR Yaris hatchbacks competing in the Australian Rally Championship, and GR86 coupes in Toyota's GR Cup series, in the brand's motorsport portfolio in Australia in 2026. Pappas also emphasized the importance of motorsport for Toyota, stating, 'This year will be the biggest year ever for Toyota motorsport in Australia and our GR brand as a whole, and we can't wait to get into it.' With the Supra's future uncertain, the brand's commitment to motorsport and its GR brand is clear, and the passion for the iconic sports car remains strong.
