Standalone Toyota GR dealerships appear to be on the cards for Australia – and perhaps other countries – potentially creating a ‘candy store’ for fans of hot hatch and sports cars, as distinct from volume-selling models such as the Toyota RAV4.
At the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, where the Toyota GR Supra scored its first podium in only its second round of racing in the Supercars category, we asked Toyota about the likelihood of independent showrooms for GR models locally following a tip from one of its Supercars teams.
“At the Japan Mobility Show last year, it was announced that Toyota Gazoo Racing would be globally positioned as a standalone brand,” Toyota Australia vice president of sales, marketing and franchise operations John Pappas told CarExpert in reply.
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“In Australia we have substantially invested in TGR from a product and motorsport participation perspective. TGR has become an important pillar of our performance strategy and brand identity.
“At this stage TGR is a performance sub-brand extension of our Toyota brand, however, we are currently undertaking a strategic review of TGR’s brand structure in Australia.”
While Toyota would not confirm further details, standalone showrooms appear to be part of this review.
The elevation of TGR to become one of Toyota’s five global brand pillars in late 2025 is a signal that Gazoo Racing is considered a key area of opportunity and focus for the giant Japanese automaker.
Toyota’s range of hot GR performance models, as opposed to its more lukewarm GR Sport variants, is expected to expand beyond vehicles such as the GR Yaris and GR Corolla hot hatches, as well as GR86 and GR Supra sports coupes already on sale in Australia – albeit with global production of the Supra ending this month.
In December 2025, the hybrid V8-powered Toyota GR GT supercar was unveiled as the first standalone road-going GR model, given the GR86 was twinned with the Subaru BRZ and the GR Supra with the BMW Z4.
It’s scheduled to go on sale in Japan in 2027, and Mr Pappas told Australian media in February 2026 that he was keen to see the high-end sports car in local showrooms.
As an extension of that, the GR GT could become the centrepiece of the first standalone GR showrooms in Australia.
The automaker gave no indication of timing or how many dedicated GR dealerships are being considered.
It also did not outline other aspects of how it plans to establish Toyota Gazoo Racing as a separate brand in Australia.
Toyota Australia previously gave dealers the opportunity to sell its now-defunct Toyota Racing Development (TRD) models, including TRD-tuned versions of the Toyota Camry-based Aurion sedan (2007) and the 2008 Toyota HiLux TRD.
In addition to TGR, Toyota’s luxury marque Lexus – which was launched in Australia in 1990 – is another global brand pillar of the world’s largest automaker, alongside Daihatsu (which is no longer present here) and Century, which is under consideration for a local launch.