(Dec 5): Toyota Motor Corp unveiled an LFA concept car that’s fully electric — a surprising twist for the long-awaited successor to its legendary Lexus supercar.
The world’s biggest carmaker also debuted the Gazoo Racing GT and its racing version, the GT3, to take the mantle as its flagship sports car. The GT will be powered by a newly developed four-liter, hybrid twin turbo-charged V8 paired with a single electric motor, the company said on Friday.
Should the new LFA concept go into production, it would sit atop the company’s vast lineup as its top-of-the-line performance vehicle, showing off Toyota’s technical and financial wherewithal to compete in the rarified market for supercars. While sales volumes would be a fraction of its mass-market vehicles, high-end sports cars often bring a halo effect that boosts brand image and helps draw buyers into showrooms.
Only 500 units of the original LFA were ever produced. Manufactured between 2010 and 2012 with a starting price of US$375,000 ($485,571) — though its current value has more than doubled since then — it’s the car that earned Lexus, and therefore Toyota, hall-of-fame status among collectors and enthusiasts.
Toyota first teased the new model in July at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, an annual motorsport event held in England. It later displayed it as a concept model in Tokyo in November at the Japan Mobility Show.
As the auto industry shifts towards electric vehicles (EVs), Toyota has stood out for its “multipathway strategy” — which adheres to the idea that the shift won’t happen overnight, and customers should have their choice of gas, electric, hybrids and hydrogen vehicles till then.
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