Being a native-born Texan, when I drew my first breath I was endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that among these were an appreciation for good brisket, a wariness of anyone who prefers mild salsa, and a pursuit of happiness that often includes jokes about other places in Texas. While I will defend the honor of any part of Texas against the vituperation of someone from, like, Delaware or whatever, it’s my God-given right to make cracks about Waco.
Having attended my fair share of debate tournaments and football games in the various Dallas suburbs, I have my biases. If you’d have asked me what I first thought of when someone mentioned Frisco, I’d have said it was one of the only places in America you could walk from a Whataburger to an In-N-Out Burger. It turns out it’s also home to a now not-so-secret garage where Lexus dealers were treated to a glimpse of Toyota’s GR supercar, and will soon become a hub of that new brand.
The Morning Dump will not all be Texas, because the world is (slightly) bigger than The Lone Star State. Take Hungary; that’s a place. In particular, it’s a place that’s been on the receiving in of a huge amount of Chinese investment. There’s a new sheriff in town, so what does that mean for companies like BYD?
While China is contemplating its investment in Hungary, Japanese automakers like Honda are still putting money in China. Specifically, Honda is killing its EVs in the United States while it comes out with new electric cars for China.
One of the weird cars I’d like to own one day is a Roland Garros Peugeot 205. I’m just like that. I wouldn’t kick a Renault 4 Roland-Garros E-Tech out of the garage for eating madeleines if you catch my drift.
Inside The GR Garage
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Akio Toyoda loves sports cars and motorsports, which is obvious when you look at a Toyota lineup that’s moved from beige to bitching during his tenure as the company’s CEO. One of his most audacious ventures is the GR GT, a six-figure hybrid supercar meant to compete with the Mustang GTDs, Porsche 911 GT3s, and Corvette ZR1Xes of the world.
With 641 horsepower from its 4.0-liter V8 and single electric motor, it’ll be the fastest thing from Toyota since the LFA. That was a Lexus. This new thing is a GR and will have its own GR-branding. Who is going to sell it?
That’s where the secret garage in Frisco, not far from Toyota’s North American HQ, becomes necessary. The United States is a key market for the GR brand, but it’s going to be something new for dealers who have made a career on Camrys, RAV4s, ES350s.
Prior to the reveal of the GT, a prototype was quietly sent to Frisco, where a huge facility was created to house the new car (allegedly, it’s the old Dude Perfect building). Automotive News got an early preview and describes the thought process:
For Lexus dealers, signing up means investment and dedicating dealership space to GR models. The products will be as radically different from the existing lineup as the short-lived Lexus LFA was from an ES sedan. It also means attracting a very different customer, said Andrew Gilleland, senior vice president of automotive operations at Toyota Motor North America.
“That [GR GT] buyer is a high-performance car enthusiast and collector who values race-bred authenticity, rarity and emotional driving,” Gilleland said. “They’re looking for extreme performance on the track and on the road, and something different from the typical European supercar crowd. These aren’t just luxury buyers, they’re enthusiasts, track day drivers and racing fans.”
Scores of Lexus dealers from around the country have already toured what the automaker has named the GR Experience Center here over the last several months. So far, more than 100 have taken the initial step to acquire a franchise, a spokesperson told Automotive News.
This is a small volume car, so Toyota-Lexus dealers aren’t going to have to build-out totally new buildings for the car, but can use existing facilities. This keeps the potential investment down to a lower level for any dealer who plans to make the jump.
Here’s one more interesting tidbit:
[D]ealers who have visited the experience center are being told that there will be other GR-branded performance vehicles in the future to bolster the fledgling brand’s lineup.
Obviously, we already have the GR Corolla and RAV4 GR Sport. I wonder, though, if this might not be the new Supra or maybe the next MR2-type object? That this is happening in Frisco, Texas of all places is a little amusing to me, because I think of Frisco as a place where nothing happens.
Are Chinese Automakers Still Welcome In Hungary?
The European Union, as a concept, is a union of countries with remarkably different fates in the 20th century. While there are divisions between more and less liberal populations, as well as wealthy and less-wealthy countries, the biggest disparity is often where the Soviet army stopped after WWII.
I love Hungary, and have passed many great hours with friends there drinking Fröccs and taking in the baths. Hungarians are a lovely people, by and large, and it’s been a little hard to watch them stifled under an increasingly Russia-aligned and often autocratic government. These same conditions made Hungary, which has open borders for trade with other EU countries, a perfect landing place for a ton of Chinese investment. Both BYD and battery maker CATL have placed their biggest European projects in Hungary (you can see the appeal for pro-censorship BYD).
Hungarians, by a large margin, overturned the existing government and gave challenger Peter Magyar’s more pro-EU Tisza party a supermajority. What does this mean for Chinese automakers? Manager Magazin (translated) explains the challenge:
Officially, little is known about the potential China policy of Magyar’s TISZA party. Much suggests that Magyar will pragmatically allow the massive Chinese investments in key sectors such as e-mobility, batteries, and infrastructure to continue – not least because they have become crucial for growth and jobs. CATL and BYD have created thousands of jobs with their operations and aim to make Hungary one of the most important European locations for electromobility – Magyar will not easily jeopardize this.
At the same time, Magyar is likely to emphasize greater transparency and stronger European integration of China policy. He could, for example, try to make existing agreements more open, subject them to stronger controls, and link them more clearly to Hungarian and European interests.
Chinese automakers need to be held to the same standards as everyone else, and the sooner that happens the better it’ll be for everyone.
Check Out The Honda Insight EV For China
Here in the United States, we get exactly no Honda EVs these days, once all the Prologues are sold. We’ll probably get more one day. Maybe. In the interim, the Honda Insight lives on as an electric car in China that’ll debut at the Beijing Auto Show this week. From the press release:
The all-new Insight was developed as an EV with a distinctive character, which commands a strong presence and offers exceptional customer comfort. Its exterior styling is instantly recognizable for its unique character and features a sharp, yet flowing form that evokes a sense of powerful and dynamic driving performance, intending to draw attention naturally on the street in urban areas.
The cabin features a package and interior design that ensures a comfortable and relaxing ride not only for the driver but also for all passengers, offering a high-quality and valuable space realized by a wide range of comfort features. Moreover, without compromising the joy of driving and sporty driving performance unique to Honda, the all-new Insight realizes a range per charge of 535 km (332 miles) in the WLTC mode*1, offering a sufficient range for a wide variety of everyday driving situations, from daily commuting and shopping to weekend drives.
Honda has seen a downturn in sales in China, and recently shut down one of its JV plants building combustion-powered cars. The Insight was developed with Honda partner Dongfeng Motor and is based on the co-developed e:NS2.
C’est Le Meilleur
The Autopian has written a lot about the vintage Renault 4, but not much about the Renault 4 E-Tech. Perhaps we’re just too distracted by the Renault 5 E-Tech and new Twingo. You know what’s a good way to grab my attention? A Roland Garros Edition! French automakers love making tributes to the tennis facility where the French Open is played.
“In this “sporty chic” interpretation, the Renault 4 Roland-Garros E-Tech electric show-car extends the very atmosphere of the tournament through its choice of materials and colour. The opening canvas roof evokes the open sky above the courts, a roofless space where players breathe as freely as spectators. Clay is subtly present in the terracotta accents, the tournament’s foundational surface and signature of its identity. Even the gestures become a tribute: the e-pop shifter gear lever tip, inspired by the grip of tennis rackets, turns driving into a direct reference to tennis. The lightweight, structured white technical knit fabric echoes performance attire. The blue stitching and finishes reinforce the idea of a sport that is both demanding and elegant, where technical mastery elevates style.”
It’ll just be a show car, but you can buy the Renault R5 Roland-Garros.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
If you were looking for a modern take on Rosemary Clooney, you could hardly do better than Icelanding jazz pop/jazz star Laufey. Her latest video for “Madwoman” includes skating star Alyssa Liu and that guy from the show Alanis can’t stop talking about.
The Big Question
What should the next performance-oriented Toyota be?
Top photo: Toyota
“lineup that’s moved from beige to bitching”? No no no. It’s Bitchin’ or maybe Bitchen.
TBQ: I hate being the guy that adds nothing to the conversation, but Toyota is hitting it out of the ballpark business-wise. They should not go crazy with GR-ifying every every model out there. Just keep doing what they are doing, perhaps sell a few more affordable trims of their bread and butter models, and keep showing the world how to run a business.
I would love to see a new MR2, but not a GR MR2.
And if you must make it a GR, then fine, give us a Sienna-GR. Put a V8 an a big wing on top, while you are at it.
I want the Renault. Hell I want the tennis balls too, practice my serve all day long
can we please get some high rev NA engine with RWD + MT?????
TBQ: I’m definitely hoping it’s going to be a new MR2 but I’m wary of how that could shake out. Toyota has reliably lost the plot in the space between taking on fun projects and realizing them.
2019: New Supra? Heck yeah! It’s a reworked BMW Z4? Oh.
2023: Hey everybody! The Land Cruiser is back! Wait… a hybrid turbo four-banger with batteries where my stuff should go? People asking for a non-Lexus Prado here wanted something cheaper and less complicated. Not this. They might buy it but it’s not something anybody asked for in this segment.
2021: There’s a new GR86? Sweet! Does it finally have an exciting engine? Oh.
I understand that a new MR2 must be cheap & cheerful, but Toyota’s past misses dial my expectations down a few notches below cheer, and cheap is a very relative term in the car market now.
What I want: Old car but spicier. Small, light, simple. NA four engine, manual transmission option, stable driving dynamics.
What I expect: A trickle-down GR GT. Complex turbo hybrid power with electric motors out front and an anchor of a battery pack. Oversized, overweight, overwrought.
What I can hope for: Reverse GR Corolla. That basic powertrain in a midengine car, maybe AWD, hopefully with an RWD option. Manual still available, natch. Smallish, not too heavy, feasible.
MR2 hybrid as a study of lightweighting hybrid power.
When I first became a manager I had people reporting to me who were born in a number of different countries. My line was: “everybody in my team was born in another country: three from Vietnam, two from India, one from Taiwan, one from Egypt, and one from the great Republic of Texas”.
Texas Forever!
Wait Frisco is it’s own place? I always assumed it was slang for San Francisco.
Heh. Saying “Frisco” in SF is like wearing a full Dodgers outfit there while loudly extolling Texas as a much better place to live.
That’s like wearing a cowboy hat or white cowboy boots in Nashville, Locals NEVER wear cowboy hats and white cowboy boots are for Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders!
Wow. Looks like Honda kinda phoned it in on the Insight. Woof!
Rollans, Rolland, Roland. Which is it?
And are you sure you’re from Texas? Friday there was a reference to the Clio Williams. Today you mention the Peugeot 205 R-G and now the Renault 4. Maybe you had too many Freedom Fries back in the day?
Otherwise, I guess Toyota has money to burn developing the GR GT. I wonder how many of those they will have to sell to recoup the R&D? And wow is that Honda Insight ugly!
I’m from Paris, Texas.
Never been there, but I saw the movie.
I’ve owned a couple of Peugeots (both 504s) in the states and rented a 306 in France. I will never mind reading about French cars, even though they are by and large 100% unobtanium.
I enjoy sampling what you listen to while you’re writing TMD. Take care.
I was just telling someone the other day about this place called Wards that had a sign that said “there is no non-smoking section” as a reference to just how normalized things were now long ago that would seem crazy now. A google search shows they’re permanently closed. Err the restaurant is closed… sadly Paris is still there.
My favorite junkyard to visit is just outside Paris in Reno. That Pickers always seems to get such interesting Fords and other random stuff in.
Game, Set, Match!(laughing emoji here)
Figuring out where to put performance cars when you have 2 brands one for everyday another for luxury plus one with a historic global presence and another with expanding global presence is difficult. Toyota had the lfa as a lexas so you have that but both historically and more recently have surpra and other essentially performance based cars under Toyota. More over most people buying a a vehicle like that wouldn’t mind having it Toyota badged.
For me it’s more of question of what dealership is going to give you less hassle and be better for the support. That’s every brand right now with dealers. They have ran wild and need to be reigned in.
So maybe the true answer is badge it as a gr treat it as a gr. If your reviews are up, don’t have serious complaints, haven’t ripped anyone off and aren’t trying to get over asking for a car you get to have it if your reputation goes low you loose gr and it can go to year nearest competition Toyota or lexas dealer. Build the show rooms as trailers so they can be towed to the other dealers when one misbehaves. Toyota really needs mechanism for that as they have a mess with distributors that refuse to sell.
If they want to move units make some kind of dumb performance SUV maybe take the bz and make it fast. Or an rz and make it quick. A gr copen in the us could be fun. Or a sports wagon would be interesting.