Toyota GR86 Will Disappear In Europe This Year

We didn’t want to believe it, as much as we knew it would happen, but Toyota has reiterated the GR86 is set to leave Europe this year

Ryan Hirons

07 Feb 2024

Toyota GR86 Will Disappear In Europe This Year

We knew it was on the cards ever since the Toyota GR86 first launched in 2022, but we refused to accept it. However, Toyota has now reiterated that European crash regulations mean the GR86 will die a death later this year for us living on the continent.

As reported by Motor1, the requirements of General Safety Regulations 2 (GSR2) will end the GR86’s legality, and there are no plans to modify the coupe to meet the requirements. A spokesperson for Toyota confirmed the news with them.

The GR86 will bid farewell to Europe in 2024

Equally, the same applies to its Subaru BRZ sibling, which is sold on the continent despite not being available in the UK. It sounds as though you can’t order one to build, either, with Jürgen Ehlenberger, Subaru’s head of marketing services and corporate communications, stating to Motor1: “After 2024, there will be no more Subaru BRZ in Europe. The sale of stock vehicles will take place in 2024”

This isn’t shocking news. Ahead of the GR86’s market launch, Toyota’s senior European vice-president, Tom Fux, said in an interview with Autocar: “We felt that the vehicle is so good and so needed for Toyota’s image in Europe, and we have a small but very passionate group of customers out there who are searching for vehicles like the GR86.

“In the end, we decided it’s important to offer this vehicle, and then we will need to stop the vehicle because it will not meet the new requirements in the future.”

Both the GR86 and BRZ will remain on sale in Japan and the US

With Toyota having to also sell any existing stock before GSR2 regulations give the GR86 a death knell, you’d be forgiven for hoping for some last-minute discounts to shift them off the forecourts. However, the firm has long sold out of new stock - with an initial allocation selling out in less than an hour of orders being taken and a second opportunity to get a build slot quickly filling up.

The good news is that there are currently no plans for GR86 or BRZ production to end in Japan, meaning there’s potential for us in the UK to import JDM-spec models. Those in North America will still get the sports car too.

Ryan started out in motoring journalism in 2017 with the Press Association, testing hundreds of vehicles from superminis to sports cars (and all the SUVs in between), before moving to carwow early in 2021.