Toyota confirms 86 will get a second generation, but will it come to the U.S.?

Twitter is abuzz today with confirmation Toyota will build a next-gen 86. In a story published Wednesday by Autocar UK, Karl Schlicht, executive vice president for Toyota Motor Europe, said the automaker was at the stage where it is deciding on the next one.

“The GT86 will carry on,” Schlicht told Autocar. “The car serves a big purpose. We are not getting out of that business. Sporty cars go through their phases. It’s our intention to continue with that car.”

For us, that’s a confirmation of a confirmation.

Way back when the 86 was still the Scion F-RS, we had a sit-down with then-Scion Group Vice President Doug Murtha, and he said at the time both Toyota and Subaru were interested in continuing the collaboration.

And while Murtha mentioned the possibility of a convertible in that interview, Schlicht pretty much ruled that out in the Autocar interview.

Too bad.

All of this should be taken with a grain of salt, however. Just because Schlicht confirmed the 86 for the European market, there has been no such confirmation for the U.S.

When we reached out to Toyota Motor Sales, USA, amid the standard protocol of “we don’t talk about future product,” we received a simple statement: “There is nothing to say about the U.S. market at this time.”

We’re glad to hear that Toyota is keeping the sporty rear-wheel-drive model for another generation, and we anticipate it will make it to the states. We just can’t say that with any certainty at this time.

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