Toyota rules out producing road cars with the TMG badge

Two years ago, Lexus unveiled the imposing LS TMG Sports 650 at the Essen motor show, a brutal modified version from the Toyota Motorsport GmbH division. A few months before it was revealed to the public, the president of this branch of the Japanese manufacturer, Yoshiaki Kinoshita, told the media during a visit to its Cologne headquarters that the intention was to turn TMG into an AMG-style sub-brand for Mercedes-Benz.

Those plans have been shelved almost definitively in 2014, according to what the director of commercial operations at Toyota Motorsport, Robert Leupen, confirmed to Australian media who visited the Cologne headquarters this week. “I don’t think there will be any TMG cars in dealerships over the next four or five years,” the executive predicted.

The LS TMG Sports 650 was merely a showcase of what Toyota and its TMG division are capable of developing, but at present there is no chance of those three letters ending up on the bodywork of a road model. TMG’s role involves the exchange of technology knowledge with Toyota to provide support on technical matters such as hybrid systems or engines.

Another project TMG is currently working on is a new manual gearbox that will equip the next generation of the Lexus IS F as well as the RC F. Leupen also revealed that the next version of the IS F will feature hybrid technology combined with a manual gearbox.

Source | Motoring.com.au