Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ successor canceled?

Rumors indicate that the

Toyota 86

is done for.

Japanese Nostalgic Car

is quoting Japanese sources as saying

Toyota

and

Subaru

have parted ways regarding the

86

and that the current car’s replacement is off the table. According to

JNC

, the Japanese magazine

Best Car

is readying a report that

the 86/BRZ successor has been canceled

.

JNC

also considers the fact that in Japan, there will be a four-cylinder, 197-horsepower version of the new

Supra

, ready to continue where the 86 will leave the market.

Back in 2016 the automaker seemingly

confirmed that a replacement for the rear-drive car was under development

, but plans can change and with a cheaper Supra version for sale in markets outside the U.S., we have to wonder if the 86 replacement has been shelved. The 86, while balanced, has only received mild enhancements and not a lot of extra power during its near-decade long time on the market, and it isn’t such a strong seller that it would necessarily merit the effort of Toyota developing a successor on its own, particularly without the help of a partner like Subaru or

BMW

.

At the same time,

Autocar quotes Toyota boss Akio Toyoda

on the Supra: “At the end of the day, is there anything better than a tight rear-wheel-drive

sports car

? I hope this won’t be the last Toyota sports car you see from us in the future.” While that is far from a solid statement of Toyota’s future intent, it paves the way to offerings below the Supra, and shows how much the company boss cares about driver involvement. There is a distinct possibility that

the company will re-introduce the MR2

as an electrified, rear-drive sports car – which could still be a joint venture with Subaru,

as Japanese Nostalgic Car theorizes

. Whatever’s in the pipeline – and we hope there is something in the pipeline – it seems Toyota’s heart is in the right place: driving the rear wheels.

Related Video: