New Toyota Celica illustrations.

It seems that Toyota is actually working on a new Celica coupe. These illustrations are from CarNow. Which claims the new Celica will be a high performance 2 seater mid-engine machine with over 400HP. Which, in my opinion, is exactly what a new Toyota Celica should not be. The car above also looks way too much like a mid-engine version of the GR86.

For decades, the Celica was a very popular model for Toyota in the US, reaching over 106,000 units in 1986. However, things seriously dropped in the 1990s with only around 29,000 sold in 1993. It went back up when a new generation came out, with over 52,000 sold in 2000. But finally dropped all the way down to around 3000 units, 5 years later, after Toyota announced they would kill the Celica.

The 2-door coupe market has not improved since 2005, and I’m not sure why Toyota would spend a huge amount of cash on yet another 2-door coupe since they already offered 2 models in the US. The GR86, which sold only around 11,000 units in the US in 2023. And the BMW-based Toyota Supra which was never that popular to begin with.

Let’s hope a new Celica, if it ever comes out, keeps true to the original recipe of a good-looking and affordable 4-seater car. “Affordable” would be the key here.

A new Celica needs to compete against the new Honda Prelude, not the Corvette. The new Prelude is a hybrid with over 200 HP. However, its base price is over $42,000.  The Toyota GR 86 is much more affordable at around $31,000. That leaves a tough spot for the next Celica.

From what we have heard recently, Toyota is actually working on a new generation of the MR2. Which does make more sense for a mid-engine sporty car. Which is what the original MR2 was. Except it was also an affordable car. that was the whole point.

We’ll see….