Toyota GRMN Trademark Hints at Hotter U.S. Lineup
The hot Toyota Yaris GRMN hatchback is unfortunately not looking likely to come to the United States any time soon, but based on a new Toyota GRMN trademark filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the automaker may be preparing some other performance offering.
GRMN, which stands for Gazoo Racing Masters of Nürburgring, is one of two major performance badges that Toyota uses, the other being TRD, or Toyota Racing Development. However, the two have traditionally been kept separate, with Europe getting the GR and GRMN models and North America getting the TRDs.
It seems, though, that there’s a good chance for GRMN models to finally make their way to the U.S. Last year, Supra chief engineer Tetsuya Tada said the Supra could get its own GRMN badge, and there have also been rumors of a Corolla GRMN hot hatch. With the Toyota GRMN trademark being filed in the U.S., it’s all but confirmed we’ll get one.
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When asked about the trademark, Toyota said, “We don’t have any news about GRMN vehicles coming to the U.S., but perhaps our legal team is snagging the trademark before anyone else does.” Typically, when the comment is that there is no news rather than flat-out denial, it’s usually a sign that there will be news coming in the future.
Toyota has been hard at work in recent years to put its image as a conservative, reliable-but-boring automaker behind. The Supra has been just one of many new performance offerings that have included the Yaris GR, the Camry and Avalon AWD, and a number of TRD models. There’s even a strong rumor that the MR2 could make a comeback.
The timing is interesting too, as most automakers not already in the performance business are tending to stray in the opposite direction with more fuel-efficient and eco-friendly vehicles. However, there is a place for low-volume, high-performance cars for a customer base of budget-limited enthusiasts who are being largely left behind.
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Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.