New Toyota Celica: Everything We Know So Far

It’s been almost 20 years now since we last had a new Toyota Celica, but that could finally be set to end. A return of the compact coupe, which would become the eighth generation since the first arrived in 1970, is one of several performance-focused projects that Toyota is rumoured to be working on.

Although we’re yet to get an official confirmation from Toyota, it seems there’s enough evidence that the Celica is happening. Here’s everything we know so far.

What hints have there been about a new Toyota Celica?

Celica revival rumours have been swirling for a while, but we first started taking them seriously last year when Toyota chairman and all-round cool guy Akio Toyoda outright stated: “I want to revive the Celica.” Since then, Best Car, a major Japanese car magazine and website, has repeatedly drip-fed alleged information about the car’s possible return.

Toyota itself has dropped further hints, too. One of these came, rather unexpectedly, in Grip, a tie-in anime series that Toyota published on its US YouTube channel. The first episode of the second series features a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene showing a whiteboard in a Toyota Gazoo Racing workshop, on which a list of all the current sports car project Toyota is rumoured to be working on, including ‘Celica Mk8’.

And now, we have yet more strong evidence – and it doesn’t seem to get much more close to official than this. Best Car directly asked the manufacturer’s chief technical officer Hiroki Nakajima the question. His response?

Translated, that was: “We’re making the Celica.”

Presumably, it’ll be some time away though. Nakajima added: “To be honest, there is no sign of it right now. However, there are many people within the company who are eagerly awaiting the Celica. So...I wonder if it's okay to say this in a public forum, but we're doing the Celica”

Adding further fuel to the fire is that in October 2024, Toyota trademarked the Celica name with the US Patent and Trademark Office, under the category “automobiles and structural parts thereof.” A similar trademark was filed in Australia. While it’s not uncommon for carmakers to renew or re-file trademarks on dormant names as a bit of futureproofing, it feels like more than just a coincidence at this point.

Is anyone helping Toyota develop the new Celica?

Toyota’s most recent sports cars have all been joint projects between it and another manufacturer – the new Supra was developed alongside the BMW Z4, and the GT86 and GR86 are both Subaru tie-ins.

It would seem, though, that like the rumoured new MR2, Toyota is going it alone with the new Celica. That’s despite comments made by Tomoya Takahashi, president of Toyota’s GR performance wing, earlier in 2024. He said that “collaboration between brands will increase in the future” for performance car projects.

What engine will the new Toyota Celica have?

According to Japanese outlet Best Car – the source of many of the rumours around the new Celica – the car is set to use Toyota’s currently in-development turbocharged inline-four engine.

This is an all-new unit, announced earlier this year and designed with the inclusion of hybrid powertrains in mind, although there’s no mention of the Celica getting any electrified element. The car’s specifically rumoured to be using the top road-going version of the engine, a 2.0-litre item producing around 395bhp.

In the Celica, this could be paired with four-wheel drive and a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox. The four-wheel drive system is likely to be the same torque-splitting GR-Four system found on the current GR Yaris and GR Corolla.

How much will the new Toyota Celica cost?

According to the plethora of Best Car rumours, Toyota is eyeing a more upmarket, luxurious approach for the new Celica – the Audi Quattro has been specifically mentioned as a source of inspiration, albeit with 2020s tech rather than 1980s.

It’s far too early to start speculating on price, especially as this often wildly varies between markets, but if this more premium positioning is true, it’s safe to assume it won’t be a performance bargain.

Will the new Toyota Celica come to the UK?

This is the real kicker for us – it’s simply not that easy to sell new sports cars in Europe anymore. The GR86 and Supra are both no longer available new in the UK, where Toyota’s sole performance offering is now the GR Yaris, sold in fairly limited quantities.

So far, none of these rumours have touched on where the new Celica could be sold, but we’re mentally preparing ourselves for it to not make it to Europe. Indeed, some reports have suggested that the new MR2 could be exclusive to the Japanese market – if the same ends up being true for the Celica, there’ll at least be right-hand drive examples to import. The trademark filings, though, hint it could also be making it to the US and Australia.

When will we see the new Toyota Celica?

Per Best Car, the new Celica is due to be launched in 2026, but we could see a concept or prototype as soon as the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon, taking place in January.