New, 8th-Gen Toyota Celica In Development, and It Might Get an Engine
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'Bottom line is we are working on a product that could theoretically go by the Celica name If we can figure out how to pull it off and it gets approved,' says Toyota senior vice president of Product Planning and Strategy for Toyota North America Cooper Ericksen. But all the AI renderings to date are wrong and fake, he added in an interview with MotorTrend.
What is not fake is that development continues on a would-be Celica. Prototypes and ideas have been shown to dealers. Mules are running around testing powertrains. Last November an executive in Japan, at a fan event at Rally Japan, told the crowd Toyota was making the Celica. But the North American executives have not been told that officially. And it is possible that a new Celica has been approved for sale in Japan first.
Celica Name Has Cache
'We'll see if it gets finally approved,' said David Christ, general manager of the Toyota Division for TMNA. 'Obviously the brand name has a lot of good history in the U.S. We'd love to have more offerings that are fun to drive.'
'People are talking about it,' Ericksen says. 'It's a pretty advanced development.' Toyota has development prototypes running around, testing future powertrains for GR products and yes, there is a running mule for a future Celica.
Asked if the Celica would have some degree of electrification—after all, Honda's revived Prelude coupe, a natural competitor for a new Celica, is a hybrid—the product planner said Toyota has unique powertrains for many different purposes. 'Akio [Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor Corp.] has said when it comes to specialized GR performance products, it is very difficult to replicate that emotional driving feel out on track with something other than traditional ICE (internal combustion engine). So, while there could be a motor in a future Celica, 'I'm not closing the door to a vehicle that is ultra lightweight, that has a super advanced system but is still a traditional ICE. It could be something that does not have an electric drive.'
Ericksen does not know when we will see the Celica, in part because it is a global product and is not being developed in North America. 'It's a big wait and see. I'm just hopeful that we can get something.' So are we. It'd be yet another push in a sporty new direction for Toyota, which has been steadily upping the dynamic game of its mainstream Camry sedan while bringing out hot stuff like the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive GR Corolla hatchback, keeping the GR86 sports car alive, and hinting that there will be a next-generation Supra.
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