Toyota adds a bit of pizzazz

The boot of the FT-86 is big enough for four spare racing wheels. Photo / Supplied

Toyota will use its FT-86 rear-drive sports coupe to attract a new generation to the brand - and price it to undercut such offerings as the $51,100 Mazda MX-5.

The carmaker unveiled the FT-86 II concept at the Geneva motor show and said a production model would be released globally around the middle of next year.

The two-door, which was developed with Subaru, showed the underpinnings of the version it will put into production, also next year.

It is not known if Toyota New Zealand will pick up the FT-86, but Toyota Australian certainly will.

Its public affairs manager Mike Breen said the price would be ultra-sharp to attract buyers up from other Toyota vehicles, such as the Corolla.

"We would like it to be in the early A$30,000s [$41,000]," he said. "That's where we would like it to be; doesn't mean it will be there. Eighteen months away, it is a little too far out to say it will be this or it will be that.

"Nothing's locked in until it is locked in. Pricing negotiation is critical to any plan. If it comes in at the right price and the right volume, then for sure."

Breen said the FT-86 would add sportscar excitement to the brand, something that had been missing since the demise of the Celica, MR2 and Supra in the 1990s.

"It is the sort of car that builds inspiration," he said. "[Customers] will buy the Corolla and then get into an FT-86 at some stage of their life."

Breen said Toyota Australia was still looking at potential motorsports applications for the FT-86, as a club car or some sort of production racer.

"I know one thing the chief engineer did when he designed it was that he made the boot area large enough to carry four spare wheels, so that when you drive yourself to the racetrack you can take your road wheels off and put your racing wheels on."