By Contributor,Peter Lyon
Copyright forbes
The new MX-5 and GR86 will sit on the same platform but employ different engines.
Photo courtesy of Toyota and Mazda
In early 2025, Japan’s biggest selling car magazine Best Car reported that there was significant potential that Toyota and Mazda were co-developing a next-generation sports car together. And we are finding out the cars in question are the next-gen Mazda MX-5 and Toyota GR86.
Toyota and Mazda had actually signed a memorandum of understanding on a partnership in 2015, which developed into a capital alliance with cross-shareholding in 2017. In addition to supplying each other with vehicles on an OEM basis, the two companies have also built diverse cooperative relationships in the areas of electric vehicles and Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs).
Today, carmakers must collaborate to survive
In today’s world, with so many diverse aspects to cover in making cars, like platform, powertrain, suspension and safety concerns, it is tough for carmakers to survive on their own. That also goes for Toyota, the world’s biggest auto maker. Toyota has partnered with many companies over the years including BMW and Subaru, as well as non-carmakers Aisin and Denso, but it seems they have built a particularly strong relationship with Mazda.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda
Photo courtesy of Toyota
Seen as “company heads who can really drive and master competitive racing,” Chairman Akio Toyoda and Mazda’s President Masahiro Moro are said to be a good match, which is likely why the two companies have such a good relationship. Toyoda has raced an LFA and GR86 in the Nurburgring 24-hour race and piloted rally cars in Japan, while Moro has been competing in Japan’s annual MX-5 Media 4-hour race for well over a decade.
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Mazda president Masahiro Moro
Photo courtesy of Mazda
Several Mazda engineers have been dispatched to Toyota
But of course when you speak about sports cars, we cannot overstate the impact Mazda’s MX-5 had on the industry and the impact it still has. And to ensure the continued development and production of the world’s biggest-selling roadster, as well as Toyota’s GR86 coupe, the two companies have decided to team up.
According to Best Car, several chief engineers from Mazda have been dispatched to Toyota City to work on the development of the next-generation MX-5 and GR86 using the current model MX-5 as a starting point. Toyota has reportedly put up significant funds to revise the current platform and make it compatible to both rear-wheel drive models.
This is a massive switch from the first two generations of GR86 which were co-developed with Subaru, a project under which Subaru made its own BRZ. In deciding which platform to use for its next-gen GR86, having cut ties with Subaru, Toyota initially considered using a revised version of the Lexus IS, which is its only mid-sized rear-drive platform.
Toyota investment will ensure the MX-5’s legacy
But after further discussions with Mazda that highlighted the merits of co-developing and further refining Mazda’s lightweight platform, Toyota decided to team up with the Hiroshima-based company to produce its next GR86 alongside the MX-5. From Mazda’s standpoint, the influx of R&D funds is instrumental in updating the MX-5’s technology, which in turn will be used in the new GR86. Production of the two models is expected to be carried out at Mazda’s Hiroshima plant, which will receive significant upgrades and production capacity expansion thanks to Toyota’s investment.
According to Best Car, the platform to be used is revised version of the current ND-spec MX-5, in particular its lightweight 990S version, which tips the scales at just 990 kgs (for the whole car). What also impressed Toyota is the fact that the 990S handles exceptionally well, perfect for the GR86. But even though the two new models will use the ‘same’ platform, word coming out of Toyota HQs says that the platform of the next-gen 2-seater MX-5 platform will be stretched slightly to accommodate the 4-seater 2+2 GR86.
Now while the two cars will employ a co-developed, almost identical platform, they will be powered by different engines. Toyota will use a 4-cylinder, 2.0-liter hybrid naturally aspirated unit pumping out upwards of 200-hp, while Mazda will reportedly employ of revised version of its current 2.0-liter, which according to one report, may be hybridized and should develop around 200-hp as well.
One other truth that convinced Toyota of the viability of this joint project is the fact that Mazda has done this kind of thing before. And succeeded. Almost a decade ago, Mazda co-developed the MX-5 with the Fiat 124 Spider, which were fitted with different engines on the same assembly line at Mazda’s Ujina plant in Japan. While Mazda employed 1.5-liter and 2.0-liter engines (for different markets), the Fiat 124 was fitted with a Fiat-built 1.4-liter turbo.
When we look at the recent history of reasonably priced sports cars, whether its the MX-5, GR86, BRZ, Fiat 124, Supra, Z4, evidence shows—through the economies of scale and the fact that sports cars only sell in very small numbers—that it became impractical for one carmaker to design and build their own sports car around a decade ago, and that carmakers must collaborate now to continue building sports cars. What Toyota and Mazda are doing is the best and smartest way to keep their roadsters alive. Look out for the new MX-5 and GR86 in mid-2028.
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