Toyota is sticking with ICE and manuals indefinitely

Toyota already offers several choices when it comes to rowing your own gears. The GR86, Supra, the outside-the-US-only GR Yaris, and the GR Corolla hatchback all offer a six-speed manual transmission and fully rely on petrol power. The good news is that the brand will continue to favor fans of the manual transmission, at least for the foreseeable future.

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“There is still room to satisfy dyed in the wool performance car lovers,” said Sean Hanley in an interview with Australian outlet Carsales. Hanley is VP of Sales and Marketing for Toyota in the land Down Under, and he’s sure there’s still a thriving market for enthusiast-focused vehicles that rely on internal combustion and good ol’ self-shifting fun.

“Combustion engines and manual transmissions will be around for a long, long time,” he says.

Hanley was specific in mentioning that it would be the brand’s GR sub-brand that handles most of the heavy lifting here, which makes sense given the existing product line. We’re not sure there’s much clamoring for a manual Highlander, after all. He also highlighted a special Yaris M Concept that touted a mid-engine configuration, which has led some to deduce that the legendary MR2’s return is as sure a thing as it has ever been.

While he was clearly aligning himself with traditional enthusiasts passionate about “that snap, crackle and pop we all love so much," Hanley says the brand is far from discounting electrification entirely. He claims that engaging and performance focused EVs will “no doubt” appear in the future, though no specifics were given past that. Hanley also stated that GR is considering expanding their performance parts catalog as another area to grow the brand.

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Hydrogen performance cars? It’s not impossible

Hanley even gave a nod to hydrogen as the potential fuel of the enthusiast’s future. He made a remark alluding to the fact that internal combustion engines could include hydrogen-fueled ones. Toyota and BMW are the two brands most frequently associated with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCV), but automakers like Hyundai and Honda have skin in the game, too.

His hydrogen sidebar is even more intriguing when you consider that Toyota has already paired a manual gearbox with a hydrogen burning mill. The fascinating GR Corolla H2 Concept is a competition race car sporting a converted liquid hydrogen fueling system. Liquid hydrogen is easier and quicker to pump than its gas form, but poses some unique challenges. Most of them revolve around storing and pumping something that only exists in conditions under -253 degrees Celsius (-423 Fahrenheit).

Final thoughts

Rumors abound about the future of Toyota performance vehicles. From the ever-persistent allegations of a returning Celica to a joint project with Mazda and mythical MR2 successor, there’s no shortage of speculation. The product roadmap is really anyone’s guess, because Toyota certainly isn’t saying anything specific. But as long as there’s a manual transmission in it, we’re happy to patiently – and eagerly – wait.

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