Subaru Boss Confirms Next-Generation BRZ And FR-S With Toyota's Help

It seems Toyota 86/Scion FR-S chief engineer Tetsuya Tada genuinely spooked some people when he said it's possible Toyota could team up with BMW instead of Subaru for the next generation of their small sports car. One of those people was Fuji Heavy Industries president Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, who says that's just not true.

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Yoshinaga confirmed to Automotive News that another Subaru BRZ is on its way, and like the current car, it will be a joint venture with Toyota. That's partially because it has to be — they won't meet the volume necessary without Toyota's help.

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Asked to comment on Tada's recent comments about Subaru not being involved in the next car's development, Yoshinaga was blunt.

"If I were to be told that, I'd pass out," Yoshinaga said. "It's not going to be just one generation."

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Whew. So the BRZ and FR-S are safe, for now. Toyota and BMW are still working together on their own sports car, but we still have no idea what form that will take. I think this is good news. The Toyobaru twins are the cars we demanded, and they remain two of the most compelling affordable performance cars on the market. They deserve a second generation.

Automotive News notes that U.S. sales of both cars were slightly down in June, and historically they haven't been great in Europe due to the cars' high cost there. Maybe it's time to finally add that extra power everyone has been wanting since the beginning.