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Toyota Supra-style replacement favoured by incoming chairman

Toyota's incoming chairman has expressed his keenness for the brand's upcoming sports car to be more like the mid-sized Supra performance model of the past than the current 86.


Industry journal Automotive News reports Takeshi Uchiyamada, the man set to be announced as Toyota's next chairman later this week at the company's annual shareholders' meeting, believes Toyota's next sports car should be comparable to the larger six-cylinder Supra that ended production in 2002 so as to not overlap with the smaller four-cylinder Toyota 86.

"It's futile if we make something similar [to the 86]”, he said.

Known as the "father of the Prius" for his development work on the pioneering hybrid model, Uchiyamada acknowledged that any decisions on the car – being co-developed with BMW as part of an agreement announced in July 2012 – would be made by the Japanese manufacturer’s engineers.

"That's what I want but it's not me who makes the decision," Uchiyamada said.

According to reports last month, Toyota’s version of the new sports car is likely to be unveiled at this year’s Tokyo motor show in November.

While a Toyota Supra successor seems promising, the car’s place in BMW’s line-up is less clear.

Sixty-six year-old Uchiyamada, is to replace Fujio Cho as chairman, with Cho planned to become honorary chairman.

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