Celica Forums General Discussion General Was the Celica and Mr-2 Spyder successful?

What do you think? Yes, both are axed at the end of 05'. But from a design and concept point. Was it a success?

Both cars were part of the Genesis program made to grab the younger market. It's approach was directed to the power to weight ratio/ handling aspect of automobile performance.The celica was made to combat Acura's GSR...and the spyder was toyota's answer to mazdas auto-x king...the miata. Although both cars did what they were designed to do, better cars have come along...the GSR was transformed into the RSX-S...the miata got a turbo from mazdaspeed...

So where did that leave the celica and mr-2? with toyota's 'youth oriented' branch aka Scion...it seems as if they have abandoned the power to weight ratio/ great handling concept...and opted for gen-y weirdo looks (xa/xb) and a bigger displacement civic (tc).

was sportiness a dud? is there a car from toyota right now or in the near future that can give you that go-kart feeling like a spyder does? is there a car presently made by toyota sexier than the celica? scion tc? IS300? corolla xrs?...i've driven all cars listed above...not even close to genesis' concepts.

I wonder why the genesis concept was abandoned? surely the sport compact car market is boomig. with the wrx, mini-s', evos, 350Z, etc. you'd think toyota would want a peice of the pie.

With toyota teasing the public with concept cars that will never reach production (a $100,000 500hp RWD lexus?? yeah right...) it seems they are headed into egg-shaped hatches, shoe-box cars, camry engined civics, and overweight luxury sporty 4 doors...

i think so. since they stopped production of the cars..many people still go out there and try to find/purchase Celicas & MR2's

the echo ends in '05 also

and yes and no, neither one of them really ever caught on. the mr2 hit the market with a big splash and was labelled as 'an exotic thats affordable' but it never really truly cought on. same with the celica in recent years.

overall i'd say the celica was successful, you don't go around 30+ years and not be successful, but at the same time it never was a mainstream car. more of a niche.

The MR2 was big at first and dropped off quick. The Celica I think was hugely successful, and one of the best imports you can get thats also very affordable, as well as modable. I think Celica sales topped off because the early 7th gens are really cheap used now.

funny you should mention the echo because that was designed by the genesis team as well.

i never really thought the mr-2 was 'affordable'...at 25K+ from dealerships it was quite pricey.

the celica as a whole i admit was successful. but was the 7th gen CONCEPT successful? there are no cars that have it's styling...no cars that have such a low and wide stance with better turn in and cone chasing abilities than most (the slalom speeds speak for itself)..it was as if toyota disgarded it's roots all together. the only thing the tc and celi share is that they are both 2+2 coupes...

hmm... maybe people didnt like them so well just seein one at a dealership or passing it on the street, but if you actually got to drive a celi or mr2, then most people really liked them, so imo, i think they both did great...

i think they both had a great run. I really dont undersand companies thinking. Same with GM cutting the f-bodies camero and firebird. Well i guess toyota though it was ot pricy to ship celi and mr2 over here but still you dont have to ax it, jsut raise the price Either way i think they are both amazing lookign and proforming cars and its sad to see them go

taps is played in the background, as a salute is given to the Celica and MR2

ok i hear is the story about why they are not making the celica and mr2 now... the selling rate of those cars were going down because the only people that wanted where young people and everyone knows a 18 year old most of the time cant by a 23k-27k car so they stop selling them at the delarship i work at "mike Johnson's hickory Toyota: we had on celica sit there for like 2 months and it never sold... a lot of people came by to see, but could get it. Thats why they made the tc it is built on the same chasis as the celica... and handles the just as good. You can order a tc with a supercharger stock... also the tc has good tq. (163lbs) even though it only has 160hp. its it first year im sure it well get a better motor... i was talking to some of the bigger people at the dealership about the 06 celica in japan and its 2.4 vvtl-i motor... wondering if that motor is coming in the us anytime soon... if it did they said it would be in the tc... and about the looks of a tc... the full moon roof is so cool... and the front is slick... i think toyota is going to make the tc its fast car.

i have nothing against the tc...but what you said just made me poop blood...lol

lol i dont mean really fast like the supra but just like rsx type s fast

toyota up to date fast car. nothing too big but in the 200hp range

heres wut i think and most of you will probably agree with me.

who had the styling of a celica when it first came out? i remember i was amazed when i saw that car. its not a car that looks too futuristic, and it wasnt old looking. it was just the perfect look for 2000, something that you wouldnt really see on the streets at all and with unique styling.

since day 1, i think it was kinda lacking factory options and had a few things about it that werent perfect (anything from belt to headlights). i think the celica stock should have come with better rims and a little smaller price tag.

wut really made the celica unwanted was toyotas non interest to the car. of course a car wouldnt sell too good if you havent done much to it lately. they just changed minor stuffs on the body, interior which were mostly fine. but a sports car needs its sports roots refreshed every once in a while to match its competition. it was dominant over GSR when it first came out, it didnt even look like any acuras unlike the past when celicas kinda resembled to acura features. once when the rsx came out, toyota gave up. they just lost the game. instead they should have released something new for 05 with a complete different look and even more improved performance. i mean even today you CAN compare the rsx to the celica.
the point is toyota wasnt really interested about the cars success and they really didnt give their best. i mean this was their last shot of making it success in US since the 99 body was also not found easily at the dealerships. i guess toyota is kinda greedy, they want celicas to sell like camrys.
look on the streets though, 00-02 celicas are full at least in socal. they are actually way more than rsx. and 03- are real hard to find. one big reason is its competition cars, and another reason is ppl just getting over it and want something new.
this IS a sign that celica once worked out fine, but its not working anymore cz they need a refreshment. its been 3 months now that the toyota dealership at my place has the same 3 celicas there in the lot.


as of the MR2, they should really had to work on it a little harder, and for its price it had to have little more balls. and they also shouldve thought that if they are competing against the miata, remember that a lot of ppl arent buying that car nomore cz theres s2000, 350z, and so many other choices. plus the interior design of the car is very bald that someone will get sick of pretty quick.

WTF are you talking about. if they were built on the same chasis then how the hell could celica's be hatchbacks and TC regular coupes?

go look it up or call them... i sold the damn things... i took classes

The Celica and MR2 Spyder would have been for successful if TOYOTA and TRD didn't drop the ball. Toyota gave up on us.

they did i just hope that make it up with the tc

fuckers!

stefanoc i couldnt agree more!! somebody said about the 06 celica in japan, does that mean they will continue production over there!

Yeah, Toyota just gave up on the U.S. market. If the price point was such a problem, how is it that Acura is selling plenty of RSXs? Don't they cost about the same as a Celica? I think the Toyota philosophy has changed some, and they just want to capture a mass market, and don't care much about niche markets anymore, at least not in the U.S.. An update to the 7th gen would have been nice, but they just didn't have the will to do it. Makes me really doubt my next car will end up being a Toyota, unless its a hybrid.

In their (Toyota's) commercials I often hear them using the word "Sporty" when talking about the Solara and the Corolla, which always kinda makes me roll my eyes and shake my head.

I cant help but having this odd sense of betrayal at Toyota dropping the Celica and MR2 from its line up. Yeah I know the rap|.declining sales, lack of demand bla bla bla, but its like they didnt even try to promote or improve these cars to be more competitive.

Then to add insult to injury Mitsubishi has been running commercials for the Eclipse where they crow about it being the best selling sport compact of the last 10 years or something to that effect. Why, because they advertise the piss out of them.

And Im sorry but nothing in the current Scion line dose anything for me. (okay rant over.)

i can understand if they dump the mr-2 and celica because of lower sales (hey, business is business)...but toyota hasn't even attempted to make a tossable/lightweight sport compact (and anyone who has driven a tc like myself can agree it handles like a pig compared to the celi...what more compared to the mr-2)

A toyota sales-rep was asked about "what next" for toyota after canceling sales of Celi and Mr.2, on Autoline Detroit. His response was "we will see a hybrid with over 300 HP." That is all he said, no name or style. Would a 300HP hybrid interest anyone? Guess we'll have to stay tuned to find out.

A little old but still an interesting article on this subject:

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=100464

Toyota will drop Celica, MR2 Spyder in U.S. after 2005

MARK RECHTIN | Automotive News
Posted Date: 7/19/04

LOS ANGELES -- Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. will delete two models that were part of its strategy to lure young buyers to the brand.

After 2005, Toyota no longer will sell the Celica coupe or MR2 Spyder convertible in America, Toyota said.

The MR2 Spyder and redesigned Celica arrived in spring 2000 as part of the launch of Toyota's so-called Genesis project, a precursor to the Scion youth brand. But coupe and convertible buyers are traditionally fickle, and the Toyota nameplates stumbled.

Celica's U.S. sales hit 52,406 units in 2000, but dropped sharply to just 14,856 last year. Sales from January through June fell 33.4 percent compared with the year-ago period. Celica sales also were expected to be hurt with the arrival of the Scion tC coupe this year.

The midengine, rear-drive MR2 Spyder suffered from lack of cargo space and never took off in America. Toyota sold just 7,233 units in the United States in its debut year, and fewer than 3,000 were sold last year.

Celica production will cease at the end of July 2005. Production of the Celica will be about 500 units a month through this December, then about 250 through July 2005.

Approximately 200 MR2s will be produced monthly for the United States until January. Both nameplates are built in Japan.

Rice...

This article pretty much sums up how I feel: http://www.speedoptions.com/articles/494...821c88460f1f055 [speedoptions.com]

Hey, thats kick...and probably very true! Good post.

hey that artical kinda knocks the celica...and one guy is like on the bottom in reviews.put a supercharger on the TC and its a "force" and it has more "potential"...now we all know the shortcomings of the GTS aftermarket...HOWEVER...go f/i on a GTS with the c2power kit and the Tc wont even be a throught...just me

Thats why I am seriously thinking of doing a 2.4L coversion on my GTS. Can you imagine having the 2.4L S motor in a Celica...and how good a show piece would that be?

Yo CT, if yer ouy there, are the Celica and TC built on the same platform?

screw the 2AZ...3SGTE all the way if you're going to that much trouble.


a TC with only 7psi has been dynoed at 298whp...no celica can claim that.

Cool...Thanks!

The news that they were gonna re discontinue the MR2 kinda hurt. It however did herald the return of the Z and possibly the return of Turbo in many SpoComs (i.e. Nissans Sport Concept and Azeal). The Celica on the other hand is and was one of the best handling cars that I have ever ridin in. The problem with the two however is that they are grossly underpowered. I also remember the anticipation of wiating on the FI MR2-S which never came. It's not like Toyota isn't making any money. Both Toyota and Nissan are currently in talks so that Nissan can buy the Hybrid engine technology from Toyota's Prius so that they can incorporate it into nissans new hybrid due out in 2006/7. It is unfortuneate that two great cars are phased out but they may yet see the light of day again-a-la GTO and Mustang (as a redesign)

Toyota (not Scion) will eventually make another car to tackle the RSX and other cars in that category...i hope

It's sad passing by my local Toyota dealership...all you see is a bunch of '05 Tacomas, Tundras, Sequoyas, 4Runners, Avalons, Camrys...point is no sport car at all...when i pass by all the other dealerships you see sport compacts...pisses me off, Toyota is weird

It really is toyota's fault that the celicas aren't selling as much as they used to. I haven't seen an ad for one in atleast 3 years and they never raised the horsepower or gave it bigger wheels. a car just can't compete now if it doesn't have the horsepower. Maybe someday they will revive the celica. Until that day...

can you say, regret? toyota will...trust me, every time a company discountinues a car, it comes back

If that were true then when can we expext the new PINTO?

The Pinto didnt have a successful 30 year production run, nor did it ever win multiple car of the year awards, or acclaim and praise from auto critics world wide.

Add to that the fact that I see older gen Celicas still on the road practically on a daily basis. They have always been well designed and well built machines that have withstood the test of time and abuse. How many Ford Pinto's do you see in a week?

Celica and the Datsun Z cars ushered in the sport compact era, they stomped on the terra and changed the face of the import car market. The Pinto was a flaming fart in a windstorm; a feeble attempt by Ford to compete with Japanese auto makers.

Car manufactures like to bring back name plates that where successful and instilled brand loyalty from a large customer base.

toyota is pretty ridiculous.
they put the 2zz engine in the corolla and when you talk about the celica, they say "well we have the corolla, very fast and sporty". r you comparing that to the celica?
just think about this, they really dropped out of celica and put FULL FOCUS on the matrix, a car that to debut that not only looked weird, but didnt really even have a certain market to sell for. wut r you gonna sell the matrix for? as sporty, mini-van, or wut? they literally left the sporty celica and had TRD work for matrix. that should sum the story up

a TC with only 7psi has been dynoed at 298whp...no celica can claim that.

thanks ct..ill shut up now...thats impressive as hell tho

I really like this line from the article:

Celica guy, I imagine, is a certifiably obsessed car nut. He's drawn to the Toyota's minimalist nature and high-revving engine, and repelled by the Scion's porkier curb weight. For him, every paycheck is another opportunity to modify his car, bringing it ever closer to that perfect state of tune. He's also got a quiet smugness about his car's rough ride and noisy cabin. When his buddies complain, he laughs and says, "Whatsamatter, too used to that big-ass boat you drive?"

Now, I can't speak for all of you, but judgin by what I've seen on this site, I can make a generalization. This fits me and everyone here perfectly.

"tC guy, though, will be far more interested in style. He'll be tempted by the dealer-installed neon accessories, and will love the shiny rims (although he'll wonder if chrome 20s would fit)."

You got to pimp my rii-ide...

Actually I see a Ford Pinto about 3 times a week at my school which makes me laugh everytime I see it. Its blue, and a Pinto LOL

I gota say that out of all the vehicles I've ever owned and driven I don't think I've ever gotten to know and love one like I do my Celica. Even in light of all of its obvious quirks and flaws. Guess that makes me an obsessed car nut.