Toyota range set for go-fast makeover: GR Sport versions coming to "each core model"

Toyota has further lifted the lid on its performance aspirations, confirming each of the brand's core models are set for GR Sport go-fast makeovers.

That's the word from Toyota in Europe, where the brand's sales and marketing boss, Matthew Harrison, confirmed "each of our core models" will get a GR Sport version, including those with hybrid powertrains.

"We are trying to build more of an obvious link to the GR brand, which is why we are establishing for each of our core models a GR Sport derivative. Some of the hybrid models will have a GR grade," Harrison told Automotive News.

It's the latest move in the brand's effort to shake-off its buttoned-down image and move more into the performance space. 

Toyota has already confirmed its plan to offer three distinct levels of sportiness in Australia. GR sport cars will simply look sportier, while the brand promises that full GR cars will show "a noticeable performance increase". The GRMN badge will used on the brand's most fire-breathing of models.

The brand has already confirmed that work has begun on a Corolla GRMN hot hatch, while a fire-breathing Yaris GRMN has been spied testing at the Nurburgring. 

And in news that will make Australians weep with joy, the brand has flagged its interest in giving its top-selling HiLux the go-fast treatment, with Toyota Gazoo Racing president Shigeki Tomoyama telling media that he was pushing for a performance HiLux inspired by the brand's Dakar-winning tough truck.

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