It Lives! Toyota Confirms Sports Car Project With Subaru is On "Fast Track" | Motortrend News & Auto Blog - Wide Open Throttle
Toyobaru is still on and has apparently been put on a fast track for production by new President Akio Toyoda:
"I am happy to announce this morning that Toyota plans to build an exciting, fun-to-drive, affordable sports car and launch it within the next few years. I am very excited about it, and I plan to fast-track it," he said.
A 30-40k 370Z isn't cheap to most people. The toyobaru and the proposed silvia are supposed to be priced at the sub to mid 20k mark. Think of them as more practical 2+2 coupe versions of the miata. And we all know how well the completely impractical miata sells.
Having a sub 370z RWD sports car in the line up will steal sales away from the FWD sporty coupes like the eclipse, civic si, etc. Plus it will bring in new customers to nissan who can then graduate to a more expensive Z just as Z owners aspire to own the GT-R. This three sports car tier type of system worked perfectly well for nissan in the past and there is no reason it won't work now.