Toyota is considering the transformation of its Gazoo Racing motorsport division to become a performance road car brand to rival the likes of Mercedes-AMG and BMW M, according to a report in Autocar.
Currently, Gazoo Racing coordinates Toyota’s efforts in the World Endurance Championship and the World Rally Championship, while producing limited edition, tuned road cars for the Japanese market, under GRMN (Gazoo Racing Masters of Nürburgring) and G’s brands.
Koei Saga, the boss of both Gazoo Racing and Toyota’s powertrain division, said it “is my intention” to increase Gazoo’s presence in road car markets outside Japan, to promote the link between its racing and road car activities.
“In Europe, the challenge is bigger because we have more competitors here, and it is also an issue of cost. However, I am very much working on that so we can have a brand like BMW’s M brand,” Saga added. So far, it has come up with its own take on the Toyota iQ, Toyota 86, and the Toyota Aqua.
It is believed that the first Gazoo-badged road car will be a high-performance Yaris, set to take on the likes of the Ford Fiesta ST and the Peugeot 208 GTi. Meanwhile, with Gazoo’s aspirations of going head-to-head with the likes of BMW M, Saga reserved comment on whether Gazoo plays a role in the development of the Toyota-BMW joint project which will spawn the new Supra and Z5.
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Nooooooo!!!! Please stick to the old TRD (Toyota Racing Development) name please! Enough with the akward sounding gazoo name.
Exactly, Toyota should just stick to TRD as most of its customers knows & can associate TRD to racing in Toyota.
TRD name alredi koyak, no thanks to Vios TRD Sportivo.
Gazoo Racing is rather a funky name with minimal motorsport pedigree and unknown to most people outside Japan.Why not continue with TRD badge which definitely has a rich motorsport heritage and sounds a lot more serious (marketable), which is what Toyota need to compete with the German giants?
I concur. Let TRD be the ones that face BMW’s M and Mercs’ AMG
This Gazoo thingie can face the likes of Brabus and Alpina instead!
The fact of the matter is that the TRD name has been dragged into mud for many years..not just here..all over the world TRD is more famous for its decals..bodykits and Trim versions on cookie cutter Toyotas…
Plus most of the toyota skunkworks team of engineers are now in the ‘F’ brand for Lexus… Gazoo is right up there with Cosworth ,AMG etc when it comes to this sort of thing and it’s a good move..
Having a team looking from the outside makes quite a difference….Also..whatever you say about Toyota..if they put their heads together they make fantastic performance cars rivalling the very best sportscar makers…
problem is trd name already busuk because of the vios TRD