Toyota Unveils Concept LFA Supercar, and It’s Fully Electric

Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled a concept for a Lexus supercar that’s fully electric — a surprising twist for the long-awaited successor to its legendary and limited edition LFA model.

The world’s biggest carmaker also debuted a high-end Gazoo Racing GT supercar and its racetrack version, the GT3, to take the mantle as its flagship sports car. The GR models from Toyota’s performance division are slated to launch in 2027 and will be powered by a new four-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 engine paired with a single electric motor, the company said Friday.

Chairman Akio Toyoda , who took a personal role in developing the Gazoo Racing models, told reporters they were born out of a sense of humiliation he felt each time he was passed by competitors at the racetrack. “Without a doubt, that feeling is what drives me,” he said.

Should the new Lexus concept go into production, it would sit at the pinnacle of the company’s vast lineup as its top-of-the-line performance vehicle, showing off Toyota’s technical and financial wherewithal to compete in the rarefied market for supercars. It would build on Toyota’s renewed focus on high-end categories, as the unveil came weeks after its announcement to reposition Century as its ultra-luxury marque to take on the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

“It’s a classic Toyota play: Sports cars aren’t treated as mere showpieces, morale boosters or toys for niche enthusiasts,” said Bloomberg Intelligence senior auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. “Toyota is again using sports cars as testbeds for advanced technologies, installing them first in low-volume performance models before migrating them into future mass-market vehicles.”

Though the LFA’s sales would be a fraction of Toyota’s mass-market vehicles, high-end sports cars often bring a halo effect that boosts brand image and helps draw buyers into showrooms.

Only 500 units of the original LFA were ever produced. Manufactured between 2010 and 2012, it quickly became popular for its handling and looks, but most of all for its V10 engine and features such as the such as the Yamaha Motor Co.-tuned exhaust note.

With a starting price of $375,000 — though its current value has more than doubled since then — it’s the car that earned Lexus, and therefore Toyota, hall-of-fame status among collectors and enthusiasts. Many of them had been hoping for a spiritual successor, specifically one with a powerful engine and throaty exhaust as impressive as the original.

Instead, the GR GT and GT3 will have to carry that internal combustion engine torch. Toyota said the twin-turbo hybrid V8 they carry will produce around 640 horsepower and have a top speed above 320 kilometers (198 miles) per hour.

Toyota first teased the new GR models in July at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, an annual motorsports event held in England. It later displayed the LFA concept model in Tokyo in November at the Japan Mobility Show.

As the auto industry pivots toward EVs, Toyota has stood out for its “multipathway strategy” — the idea that the shift to all-electric models won’t happen overnight, and until then, customers should have their choice of gas, electric, hybrid and hydrogen cars.

Separately, South Korea’s Kia Corp. marked the brand’s 80th anniversary on Friday by unveiling its Vision Meta Turismo concept car, powered by an augmented reality heads-up display and a spacious layout.

Top photo: The Toyota Lexus LFA concept vehicle on Dec. 5.