BMW and Toyota are planning to spin two different sizes of vehicle off their ongoing joint sports car project, allowing engineers from the two companies to deliver the next generation of Z4 and the return of the Supra name respectively.

The original deal to work together on a mid-size sports car was announced in 2012. Few details have been released since then, but BMW did confirm late last year that the project had entered the “concept phase” and that a technical feasibility study had been “successfully completed”.

Senior sources have now confirmed further details, including where the car Toyota produces will sit in the firm’s product line-up.

Speaking at the Geneva show, Toyota Europe vice-president and product planning chief Karl Schlicht said: “The intention with the new car is for it to sit above the GT86. It doesn’t replace that model; the GT86 goes on with its own mission.”

That positioning tallies with the return of one of Toyota’s classic sports car names. While the Celica badge has traditionally been used for models of the GT86’s size, the Supra name would give the firm a mainstream sports car flagship. It also allows the new car to be considerably more expensive than the GT86, reflecting what is likely to be a complex powertrain and high-tech construction.

As Autocar revealed last year, the two models are likely to feature a hybrid four-wheel drive set-up incorporating a BMW petrol engine and electric motors whose energy is stored in supercapacitors.

BMW is understood to be bringing its expertise in construction to the project, with the new sports car likely to follow the existing i3 and i8, and the forthcoming 7 Series, by making use of carbonfibre in its architecture.

Toyota’s most recent sports car concept, the FT-1, could be seen as a preview for the Japanese brand’s offering. Its 4.6m overall length is broadly the same as that of the last Supra, which was withdrawn from sale in 2002.

A model of this size would also be significantly larger than the existing Z4, but Ian Robertson, BMW’s board member with responsibility for sales and marketing, has stated that the two manufacturers have come up with a proposal that can satisfy different areas of the sports car market.

“The one thing we’re clear on now is that a platform for both companies can work,” he said. “The cars in themselves don’t actually need to be positioned the same. The platform can spawn two positionings.

“The concept works, the platform can deliver and now we have two proud sets of engineers - one group German, one group Japanese - who are each fighting and arguing for the car they want.”

When asked if the platform was scalable, to allow for the sort of difference in wheelbase that there could be between a Supra and a Z4, Robertson said: “Gone are the days when one platform was one platform. Most of our platforms are scalable these days.”

Robertson also said that no decision on production had been taken, but he suggested that a single factory would be used for both cars. “One part of the next phase will be deciding who builds the car - which company and in which country. We need to find out where the markets are and whether the biggest markets are the same for both companies.” It’s thought that a plant in the United States or Europe is more likely to be used than a facility in Japan.

Toyota’s luxury brand, Lexus, does not currently have access to the joint sports car program, but senior company officials have refused to rule out the idea in the longer term. “Toyota is next door,” said Lexus’s European boss, Alain Uyttenhoven. “We are one company and our head is Akio Toyoda, and we could do it. Right now, we are not going to have a common platform between BMW and Lexus. Purely speaking, though, we have access to everything which is Toyota.”

You can see why Toyota and BMW would choose the code name “Silk Road” to describe their collaborative effort to build a new generation of sports cars. East meets West and all that. We will forgive the companies the minor historical inaccuracy—the Silk Road trade route never extended to Japan or Germany—because we greatly prefer sports cars to silk. And this alliance will result in the next BMW Z4 and the return of Toyota’s long-lost Supra.

According to leaks out of Germany, the Supra coupe will appear in two years as a 2018 model. Why would the Germans be leaking Supra details? Because underneath the Toyota-specific body will be mounted a turbocharged inline-six BMW engine. And, if that’s not enough sacrilege, the coupe’s rear-drive chassis will be developed largely by BMW, too.

So what will Toyota contribute to the party, other than the body? Well, money, for one. Toyota also will let BMW in on some of its expertise in inexpensive hybrid technology, although there’s currently no indication that the Silk Road cars will offer hybrid options. BMW will certainly develop a four-cylinder variant for the Z4 while Toyota is unlikely to offer the smaller engine.

Toyota tipped its hand on the Supra’s styling with the FT-1 *concept car it unveiled at the Detroit auto show in 2014. With its Viper-like dimensions, the FT-1 concept is larger than the eventual production car will be. Scale the concept down about 10 percent or scale the current Z4 up a bit and you’re in the realm.

There were early rumors that the Toyota-BMW cooperation also would result in a replacement for the slow-selling Scion FR-S, but it’s hard to imagine Toyota seeing enough demand in the U.S. for two distinct rear-drive performance coupes. That noted, the platform should have enough powertrain and dimensional flexibility to be used for other BMW variations and possibly a Lexus model.

Toyota has trademarked a new automobile title, hinting at a name for a future sports car.


Toyota S-FR has now been protected with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and will be used for “automobiles and structural parts thereof.”

Following the naming structure introduced for FR-S, which stands for front-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car, the new name may stand for sports front-engined rear-wheel drive. We’re hoping that the ‘S’ stands for ‘super,’ which would make it a super front-engined rear-wheel drive car.

SEE ALSO: New Toyota Supra Could Use BMW Engine

Toyota wants to have a three sports car lineup, consisting of one car that would sit above the FR-S and one that will sit below. The name could be used for either, though the larger of the two new cars is expected to arrive much sooner.

The high-end sports car will be a spiritual successor to the Supra and will take its styling cues from the Toyota FT-1 concept. It is currently being developed in cooperation with BMW.

The Toyota S-FR trademark application was filed on May 28, 2015.

For engine choices, the BMW will get a 2.0 turbo four cylinder( 240 HP/260 lb-ft) and an inline 6 cylinder turbo(335 HP/330 lb-ft.) The Toyota Supra will most likely receive the inline 6-cylinder turbo paired with an electric motor in a hybrid battery setup with power coming close to 470 HP.