New Toyota trademarks could hint at upcoming sports cars

Toyota has been hinting at the return of the MR2 for a few years now. A mention of the iconic two-seater mid-engine sports car appeared in season two of Toyotas Grip anime YouTube series last year, and now we have our best confirmation that the model could officially return. Maybe.

Toyota has filed a trademark application for the name MR2 in Japan and the MR-S in Australia. The automaker filed both late last month and the timing is interesting. Toyota teased a fourth GR model that will join the 86, Corolla and Supra in the latest version Grip delivery, and earlier this year it debuted a mid-engine Yaris concept.

In 2021, Toyota introduced the Sports EV, a mid-engine concept car. The company would follow up with a similar-looking FT-Se Concept in 2023, which was also electric.

Then, earlier this year, the automaker introduced the Yaris M Concept, a mid-engine hatchback with the development-oriented 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. All signs are there that the car is coming back; we don’t know when that will be, or if it will happen at all.

Although Toyota has been hinting at the return of the MR2 for almost half a decade, the company has not confirmed this, and it is unclear whether MR-S is a different name, a hotter version of the car or something else. The company has also suggested that Celica may be making a comeback, and has filed similar trademarks. It is clear that Toyota is interested in new sports cars.

Toyota had been building the MR2 for more than twenty years, and the first generation was released in the 1985 model year. Toyota ended production of the car after three generations in 2007, when it had a 1.8-liter four-cylinder good for 138, but Toyota discontinued it in the US after the 2005 model year. It started at $25,685, including the $540 destination charge, which is $43,158 today.

If Toyota were to revive the MR2, we wouldn’t expect it to return anytime soon. We haven’t seen any development vehicles in public and the trademark might mean nothing. Car manufacturers trademark names all the time and never use them, but we hope the GR MR2 is real and we can see it in 2027 or 2028, which feels too far away.