Toyota Just Teased Five New Sports Cars Including A New Supra

Outside of toys for the rich, it’s not a great time for sports cars right now. People don’t have tons of money and the status symbol of the day isn’t the garage-kept performance car, it’s the well-appointed crossover utility vehicle. Well, it seems that nobody told Toyota this. In a recent promotional video, the Japanese automaker teased the possibility of five new sports cars. Five! In today’s climate, that almost seems like madness, but you know very well that none of us are complaining.

At the same time, Ford is pausing F-150 Lightning production, Kia’s out here crushing it, and Mitsubishi has a plan to move forward but it might temporarily neglect one of its biggest sellers. Yeah, we still aren’t over the cancelation of the Mirage.

Matt’s out this morning, and I’ve been left in charge of The Morning Dump. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and get ready to peruse some of this morning’s best bite-sized pieces of car news. Unlike a poppy seed bagel, you should be able to consume this article and still pass a drug test.

Sports Mind, Powered By Sports

Toyota recently dropped the strongest hint yet of what lies ahead for its sports car lineup, and it was given in an anime short. At about 47 seconds into season two, episode one of Toyota’s GRIP Anime Series, an animated whiteboard is shown with a bunch of text on it. From top to bottom, it reads “Supra Mk6, Celica Mk8, MR2 Mk4, GR86 Mk3, GR GT3.” Could Toyota be planning five new sports cars? Well, quite possibly.

See, the GR GT3 already seems to be in the works, and it actually makes some sense. The current Lexus RC won’t be in production forever, so its GT3 race car variant will eventually grow outmoded. At the same time, Toyota’s shown off a GT3 concept, photos of a vehicle that looks a lot like the concept testing at the Nurburgring are circulating the internet, and AutoGuide reported earlier this year that Toyota trademarked the nameplate ‘GR GT’. We’re calling that one highly plausible.

Regarding the third-generation GR86, we do know that the existing second-generation model is having some compliance issues in markets like Europe, and as such, currently can’t be sold worldwide. Considering the car’s appeal, a third-generation model sellable in Europe simply makes sense, especially if Toyota can push it out the door well before 2035.

As for the other rumored models, we’ve had hints and concepts in the past, but nothing official yet. However, Toyota has expressed desire to continue the Supra lineage after production of its current BMW Z4 sibling ends, Toyota’s shown off the electric FT-Se concept with mid-engined styling, and the Celica namedrops have been coming hot and heavy for years. Knowing Toyota’s typically serious and calculated product planning, this latest teaser is a letter of intent. While it’s too soon to guarantee five brand new sports cars, keep your eyes on the brand over the next few years. Things could get ridiculously fun.

Pause The Lightning

F-150 Lightning production is going offline for a full six weeks. The Dearborn plant’s line for electric pickup trucks is hitting pause on Nov. 18, and the idling is expected to last until Jan. 6, 2025. Needless to say, this isn’t great news, as it could affect hundreds of workers, so what went wrong? Well, according to Automotive News, Ford CEO Jim Farley reckons it’s general market forces:

Farley, on Ford’s Oct. 28 third-quarter earnings call, cited the “slow uptake of EVs” as a challenge but said he was pleased with the strength of Ford’s overall electric vehicle strategy, “which I wouldn’t trade for any of our competitors.”

While electric vehicle uptake outside of Tesla hasn’t been tremendous, it’s worth noting that product mix may play a role here too. A lot of people buy pickup trucks specifically for edge cases, so it wouldn’t be surprising if these same people are quite concerned about potential edge cases involving an electric truck. On the plus side, Ford is working on an electric midsize truck due 2027, but it did recently take a $1 billion hit for terminating large electric SUV plans early. It kinda feels like every automaker is simply trying to figure it out on the fly.

Kia Kicked Ass In October

The first of the auto industry’s October sales reports are out, and Kia just had its best October ever by volume, moving 68,908 cars in America during a time when much of the car industry’s seeing mounting inventory. Earlier this month, Cox Automotive reporting 25 percent more cars on lots at the start of October compared to the same time last year, which meant a somewhat slow month was expected. So what made Kia appealing? Surely it’s not just a matter of incentives, right?

Well, this record owes a certain gratitude to small cars. The start of K4 deliveries combined with Fortes still being available on lots meant that Kia moved 12,858 compact sedans last month, some 3,465 more than it did in Oct. 2023.

At the same time, the Sportage compact crossover moved 2,628 units more than it did in Oct. 2023, and the Carnival minivan is another big winner with 4,909 sold, up 1,402 units compared to Oct. 2023 and outselling the EV6 and EV9 combined. Oh, and Sorento midsize crossover sales are up 1,453 units compared to Oct. 2023. Care to guess what these three models have in common? That’s right, you can get them all with hybrid powertrains. Kia claims that hybrid and plug-in hybrid sales are up 49 percent and 65 percent respectively, which makes sense, since hybrids are efficient and consumers generally like to save a buck here and there on fuel costs.

Mitsubishi Has Plans For Everything Except For What It’s Really Good At Right Now

After what’s felt like years of relative product starvation, Mitsubishi has announced that a new compact crossover is coming for the European market soon, leveraging the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance to make it happen on the relative cheap. As per Automotive News:

It is the fourth model that Renault will build for Mitsubishi in Europe, after the ASX small SUV (based on the Renault Captur), the Colt small car (based on the Renault Clio) and a previously announced compact full-electric SUV.

The new combustion-powered compact SUV will have both gasoline and full-hybrid drivetrains, Mitsubishi said on Oct. 28. The additional SUV will be launched in 2025.

This news of yet more rebranded Renault models comes months after future plans for North America were detailed, with Mitsubishi expecting “two all-new vehicles to debut into segments in which the company does not currently compete, as well as a new or completely refreshed vehicle to debut each year between fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2030.”

While a thoroughly revamped lineup is well overdue and Automotive News reports that the new ASX subcompact crossover and Colt subcompact have clocked 14,000 European sales through September, the best-selling Mitsubishi in Europe is still the Mirage, shifting 19,580 units year-to-date in that market.

While the best-selling Mitsubishi in America is the Outlander crossover, the Mirage is its second-best by a country mile, and that presents a bit of a problem because the Mirage is dying at the end of this year. Tens of thousands of people each year just want a cheap, efficient, uncomplicated car with a warranty, and with the Nissan Versa expected to be discontinued after 2025, one automaker could end up owning the entire pie. If I were Mitsubishi, I’d look at what’s needed to homologate a rebadged Dacia Sandero. If a business case exists for the cheap hatchback, it might be something worth pursuing.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

Oh hey, new LCD Soundsystem just dropped. Called “x-ray eyes,” this funky cut of bloopy synths and a bouncy grooveline is our first sign of LCD Soundsystem’s upcoming fifth studio album, and James Murphy stated that “when we’re not playing shows, it’s getting closer and closer to completion.” It’s been seven years since American Dream dropped and yeah, even though this track doesn’t immediately hit like some prior singles, it’s a groovy slow-burn that was fun to wake up to.

The Big Question

Let’s say Toyota does make these five new sports cars happen. Would you vote with your wallet?

(Photo credits: Toyota, Ford, Kia, Mitsubishi)