Toyota suspends bookings for 2022 Toyota GR86 in Japan, rumours of discontinuation by June 2023 run wild (not true)

Toyota dealers in Japan have stopped accepting anymore bookings for Toyota GR86 since September 2022, likewise Subaru dealers with the GR86’s sister-car the Subaru BRZ. This has led to speculations that the GR86 (and BRZ) will be discontinued in 2023 once all outstanding bookings are fulfilled.

Adding fuel to the rumour is an announcement by a Toyota dealer on its website, on its waiting period advice section, the GR86 is described as "Current model ending."

It’s highly unusual to discontinue a model after just two years, especially for a low volume sports car, which typically require a longer 10-year model lifecycle to recoup the development cost of the product.

However, Toyota and Subaru has already confirmed that cars like the GR86 will be discontinued in Europe by 2025, because once Euro 7 emission standards come into effect, it is impossible to sell cars like the GR86  / BRZ in the European Union anymore.

Japan will only adopt its equivalent to Euro 7 in 2030, so it is quite unlikely for emission standards to influence an early discontinuation for the GR86 / BRZ.

So what’s the reason behind the pause in order takings for the Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ?

According to Japanese publication Best Car Web, there are two reasons to Japanese dealers halting orders for the GR86 / BRZ.

The magazine reached out to Toyota for answer and the reply given was, as you would’ve expected, related to the global shortage in semiconductor parts (which many manufacturers say will improve but won’t go away completely until 2024).

As a result, Toyota is limiting the number of orders to prevent waiting period from spiraling out of control.

The second reason given by the publication is that there will be a minor improvement model due sometime around June 2023, and Toyota wants to fulfill all existing orders before the improvement model is announced.

Of course, since this is related to a future product plan, Toyota won’t confirm this, but said that like many products there will be many improvements planned throughout its lifecycle.

When will the Toyota GR86 be launched in Malaysia?

As you can infer from the current situation, global demand is high but supply is very limited. In such a scenario, Toyota is in no hurry to launch the GR86 in more markets. As it is, the company is already struggling to placate customers who are waiting for their cars.

Fulfilling orders from countries like USA, UK and Australia, the GR86’s main export markets, is its main priority.

The GR86 is built by Subaru at the latter’s Gunma plant, which also makes the GR86’s sister-car the Subaru BRZ, as well as the Subaru Levorg, Subaru Impreza, Subaru XV, and Subaru WRX.

Meanwhile, TC Subaru is now selling the 2022 Subaru BRZ in Malaysia at RM 249,245 for the 6-speed manual variant, and RM 259,245 for the 6-speed automatic variant.

Also read: Priced from RM 249k, first pair of officially-imported 2022 Subaru BRZ delivered to customers