Toyota President Sato Reportedly Wants To Revive The Celica

Seventh-gen Celica T230, last produced in 2006. Could a successor be in the works?

Newly appointed President Tsuneji Sato has expressed his passion for the Celica model nameplate to press members recently during a rally racing event held in Japan. He also admitted that a modern successor of the Celica would be “a good idea.”

While nothing’s official yet, it all seems likely that the first launch project under Sato’s stewardship could be a rebirth of the Celica sportscar model. Fuelling this was the statement issued by Toyota Motor Corp. in response to Japanese portal Best Car Web’s recent enquiries regarding the matter.

When it was launched, the seventh-gen Celica T230 boasted a rather sharp and distinct styling.
(Image source: AutoEvolution.com)

“The new president of Lexus and the GR company, Sato, has the intention of continuing to release GR sports models,” said the firm to Best Car Web when it asked for clarification regarding Sato’s initial statement.

The publication further quotes “a person familiar with Toyota’s internal affairs” who said it is highly possible that the Celica successor will be launched as the first project under Sato’s stewardship. The firm speculates that the Celica will return as an electric sportscar too, and have even produced a render.

Speculative render by Best Car Web looks exciting indeed.

Despite the claims of their insider sources, we’ve learnt over time that perhaps some reporting from this particular Japanese portal is best taken in with a pinch of salt. Nevertheless, we’ll also admit their render of how this reborn all-electric Celica should look like does appear very exciting indeed.

Adding further to the electric revival element is the fact that several other historical performance and sporty nameplates from other automakers have enjoyed successful electric remakes. Indeed, it would make sense for Toyota to build a new electric sportscar in this day and age.

Current GR performance models line up comprise of the GR Corolla hot hatch (centre), as well as the
GR Supra (left) and GR86 (right) sports coupes.

Though the GR86 (left) and GR Supra (right) sit on two different ends in terms of price and intended consumer segment, a reboot of the Celica to sit in between both would be ideal.

Presently, under its Gazoo Racing (GR) global models range, Toyota has two key performance coupes in the form of the new second-gen GR86 and the BMW-based GR Supra. If the Celica name was to be revived, it would ideally have to sit in between the two.

The Last Toyota Celica offered was the seventh generation iteration (chassis code T230) model produced between 2000 and 2006. It boasted a striking yet very sharp exterior design that was backed up by a respectably peppy 1.8-litre naturally aspirated 4-cyl powertrain with the option for a 6-speed MT box.

Examples of the seventh-gen Celica currently listed for sale by our dealer-partners on CariCarz.com.

Whilst we await confirmation of a possible new eighth-gen successor, you can bask in the handling prowess of the seventh-gen model should your finances allow. Presently, a number of which are listed for sale here at CariCarz.com by our dealer partners. Click here to take a look at them and perhaps find you dream drive.