Actors look on as a Toyota FT-1 concept car is unveiled on stage during the press preview day of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan January 13, 2014.REBECCA COOK/Reuters
Toyota and BMW are joining forces to build a new sports car and have picked an Austrian plant owned by Canada's Magna International to build it, according to a report.
Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung reports the next generation BMW Z4, to be called the Z5, and the Toyota Supra will roll off the Magna Steyr plant in Graz starting in 2018. The companies plan to build 60,000 vehicles for each of the two models. The Z5 will roll off the line first. BMW already produces the Mini Paceman and Countryman in Graz. Autoweek reports the Countryman will likely be moved to a factory in the Netherlands and the Paceman is being discontinued.
Neither Toyota, BMW, nor Magna have confirmed the details.
Magna Steyr is a group operated by Magna International, which is headquartered in Aurora, Ont. It is mostly a supplier, and employs more than 147,000 people across 29 countries. In Graz, Magna Steyr specializes in building low-volume niche cars. It is currently building the Mercedes-Benz G class SUV and recently built the Peugeot RCZ sports car and Aston Martin Rapide.
The current Z4 has been sold since 2009 and sales last year in Canada were 25 per cent of what they were in that first year, according to Good Car Bad Car.
Automotive News Europe asked BMW CEO Harald Krueger if it is still worth it for the premium brand to compete in the roadster segment.
"BMW has a long roadster tradition," he said. "We will occupy the segment once more. It's not big, but it's important for the strength of the brand."
Toyota stopped selling the Supra in North America in 1998. The FT-1 concept car, first revealed at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, has been mentioned as a Supra successor concept. Toyota hasn't said if it will use the Supra name, but shortly after the show in Detroit, the auto maker submitted an application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to renew the Supra trademark.
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