Race face!

THE high-performance Toyota Racing Development brand will not be shared with the luxury Lexus brand.

According to Lexus Australia divisional manager Scott Grant, the Lexus brand already has "incredible performance characteristics" built into the line-up, which offsets the need for a pure sports division.

He said the company’s resources were also stretched at the moment launching new products in the short-term, among them three new hybrid models as well as various new models further down the track.

Toyota’s first TRD-branded vehicle is expected to be a supercharged version of the new front-wheel drive 3.5-litre Aurion V6 with output believed to be in excess of 190kW/330Nm. The TRD Aurion will be unveiled early next year.

Because of the Aurion’s common platform architecture, Toyota also has an opportunity to configure an all-wheel drive version.

Toyota Australia executive director John Conomos said last week that a TRD Aurion would have to overcome some buyer perceptions from enthusiasts that a high-performance sedan must be rear-wheel drive, as is the case with key competitors Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) and Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV).

"By steadily going through the process of education and providing very good products, we believe we will meet those levels of expectations," he said. "We will never overcome rear-wheel drive (perceptions) because we don’t have a rear-wheel drive car.

"We think that with time and the ability to provide very good products, consumers will accept it.

"If the car performs well and it’s got reasonable appearance and it’s got the kind of things they want, then the rear-drive aspect of their priority diminishes."

Left: Toyota Sportivo concept at the 2006 Melbourne Motor Show.

Mr Conomos said he believed a TRD Aurion would essentially attract to a different type of audience than that of HSV and FPV brands.

"We can’t compete with those famous brands," he said. "We don’t have the range, we don’t have supercars, we don’t have V8s, nor the ability to do massive conversions.

"We only have the ability to do one car with one spec at one time. So it’s our early entry into that market."The arrival of the TRD will also focus Toyota’s ongoing commitment to the Sportivo name, used in current production Toyotas.

A big part of the TRD brand will be the spin-off merchandise, in the same vein as HSV and FPV. Merchandising is a big part of revenues for sports divisions and Toyota is keen to exploit its potential.

Apart from the TRD Aurion, Toyota is also believed to be looking at a TRD Corolla and HiLux, although management remains coy about which models will follow Aurion.

"Depending on the success and the business case we’ll expand," said Mr Conomos. "As a company executive, yes we have plans and desires, but they’re not justified yet.

"The idea is that, for the long-term, TRD should become the basis by which we could apply different products to the marketplace where necessary, but we don’t have the resources to do every model, every car in the first stage. It will take time to introduce them."The internationally recognised TRD livery will roll out in the Neal Bates and Simon Evans Corolla rally cars at this weekend’s Australian Rally Championship event in Western Australia.

Toyota's previous Toyota Team Racing (TTR) moniker has played a significant role it its Australian-based motorsport efforts since the late 1990s.