Toyota Australia defends GR86 pricing, claims “exceptional value”

Toyota has responded to criticism of its pricing strategy for the new 2023 Toyota GR86 sports car, insisting there are enough changes under the skin to charge up to $3800 more than its Subaru BRZ twin – despite fewer features in the base model.

Pricing for the Toyota GR86 was shared yesterday at the car’s launch in Melbourne, where it was revealed the new car starts from $43,240 plus on-road costs – up $11,060 over its predecessor, and $2950 more than its near-identical Subaru BRZ twin.

Speaking to Drive, Toyota Australia vice president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley justified the price hikes, stating “it's exceptional value when you look at all the specifications because when you compare it [to the BRZ and old Toyota 86], this is a true GR.”

“You know, if you compare it to [the first generation] 10 years ago, well of course the price has gone up. Costs have gone up, specification… this car is very different to the car we launched in 2012.”

At the media event, GR86 chief engineer Yasunori Suezawa described the changes between the Toyota and Subaru that resulted in its delayed launch, including changes to the suspension with new springs, the throttle response, and tweaks to the electric power steering system.

“As the chief engineer outlined, there are distinct differences between the BRZ and the GR86, so I do think that there is a difference.”

Criticism has been directed at the entry-level GR86's pricing, which costs $2950 more in manual form – but comes with fewer features than an equivalent base BRZ, lacking 18-inch wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport tyres, blind-spot monitoring and more.

"I think our pricing strategy is right, I think it offers good value and I think our consumers, once they get in the car, experience the performance, will see the same thing,” Hanley said.

Toyota has kept the same price for both manual and automatic transmission variants of the new GR86 – despite the former lacking key advanced safety equipment, including autonomous emergency braking, lane departure alert and adaptive cruise control.

In contrast, manual versions of the Subaru BRZ cost $3800 less than automatics, to account for the less complex gearbox and fewer safety features.

“It's simply about choice and it's about understanding that we try to make it achievable across the range. Our pricing strategy's very clear to make them the same, but then if people want a manual, they know what they're getting,” said Hanley.

“If they want an auto, they know what they're getting. They know the cost. It's about choice.”

Senior manager of product planning and pricing Justin Hood added by saying “as you would have read just recently, we’ve adopted a similar policy with the GR Supra where there’s price parity between the manual and automatic transmissions.”

However, it's worth noting manual and automatic GR Supra variants have near-identical standard feature lists – with differences limited to adaptive cruise for the automatic, compared to regular cruise control for the manual.

As previously reported, the 2023 Toyota GR86 is limited to 1100 examples in its first 12 months on sale. The car is in Australian showrooms now.