Toyota (TM, Financial) is the world’s lead automaker, but it has been often criticized of making boring and conservative looking models. The carmaker has taken this very seriously and is working to overhaul this image to offer more stylish cars to its buyers. The company has undertaken several steps including shuffling the management, increasing focus on its luxury segment Lexus, and the most interesting one – signing a deal with luxury auto giant BMW (BAMXF, Financial).
The Japanese company partnered with the German company way back in June 2012 to produce sports car. Even since, not much has been heard about the two. But recently a German site Auto Zeitung reported that Toyota and BMW venture could come out with their sports car in 2017. Speaking about the car, a BMW official who requested anonymity said that it would be “an innovative and emotional athlete for larger production”.
But other reports have another story which says that the two companies would unveil two separate models highlighting features unique to the individual brands, but use the same groundwork that they design jointly.
Speculations about BMW
There’s widespread rumor about BMW that the carmaker would offer a version which would have a refurbished chassis of Z4, and engines in front with rear wheel drive. The car would sport a V6 engine, bringing it in the genre of Z4, M versions of 3 Series, 5 Series, and 6 Series. Since the car is slated for 2017, one shouldn’t be surprised to find out that it’s a hybrid. BMW cars are known for being solid and bulky, but in case it showcases the hybrid version, then the automaker would have to cut down a lot on the car’s weight.
BMW Z4. Source: autocarpics.com
Speculations about Toyota
Details regarding what the two are developing are so less that there are huge speculations about what the car would be like. While there are many people who believe that the revamped Supra would be the much awaited sports car, Toyota says that that FT-1 concept has been entirely designed by the carmaker itself.
The next speculated Supra. Source: automoblog.net
The world’s top automaker Toyota recently unveiled the FT-1 concept car at the 2014 NAIAS. This concept model is said to be a predecessor of the sports car that Toyota is jointly going to release in 2017 with partner BMW. Similar to the speculated BMW model, this model too is said to have front engine with rear wheel drive. As far as the price is concerned, it’s expected to cost nearly $42,000 to the buyers. However, BMW’s sports car version would be even pricier.
Last Word
The partnership pact between the two automakers is quite an interesting one – the world’s lead automaker joining forces with the world’s lead luxury carmaker. Obviously there are tremendous expectations from the jointly designed car. It would be quite exciting to see what tweaks, major revamps, and new technology the two auto biggies apply on their joint creation.
