Ladies and gentlemen,
Please welcome group Vice President Toyota division marketing
for Toyota Motor North America, Lisa Matarazzo.
Well hello and good morning everyone.
It's so amazing to return to Las Vegas this year
live and in person to be with you all at SEMA 2021.
Now it's exciting for Toyota, but it is especially exciting for me
since this is my first time presenting here,
and I have to admit it feels like I've hit the jackpot this year
because Toyota earned two out of the five prestigious SEMA awards.
Mid-size truck of the year for Tacoma and best sport compact for GR Supra.
Way to kick things off, so thank you SEMA.
Now some of the vehicles you'll see this morning
you may have seen virtually last year,
but there's nothing like seeing them in real life, inside and out.
Am I right?
Plus we have some mind-blowing builds
that you haven't seen virtually or in real life until today.
First, we'll enter the high octane world of Toyota high performance cars.
So follow me and let's head over to the GR garage.
Okay, now GR stands for Gazoo Racing
and it serves as the umbrella brand for our motor sports teams around the globe.
Now believe it or not, Toyota Gazoo Racing
started as a kind of skunk works with a small group of employees working after hours.
Learning through racing, how to make better sports cars.
In 2019, we introduced the GR product line developed for sports car enthusiasts,
and inspiring race car drivers everywhere.
Each GR badge is earned, not given and that's why we like to say
GR was born on the track, not in the boardroom.
It all started with a GR supra
and enthusiasts have been carving up canyons ever since.
But what's it like to really push the limits of a GR Supra?
Well, we have someone who knows firsthand.
You've probably seen him in his GR Supra
followed by a thick cloud of white smoke, going totally sideways.
Ladies and gentlemen,
please give a warm SEMA welcome
to formula drift driver, Ken Gushi.
Hi Lisa.
Hey Ken. How's it going?
Good, how are you?
Good, thanks.
So Ken has been drifting for over 16 years
and has multiple top three finishes in formula drift championships.
In 2019, he closed the season with a big win at Irwindale Speedway
and in 2020, during his first season in the Toyota GR Supra
he scored two impressive top 10 finishes.
Oh it's so great to be here with you today Lisa, and everyone here at SEMA.
So Ken, tell us why you chose the GR Supra to compete in formula D.
Easy. Supra's an iconic name and Toyota is a legendary brand.
Building a purpose-built competitive drift car, not so easy
but with the GR Supra we had an awesome canvas to start with.
This 3 liter inline six under the hood is a fire breather.
A twin scroll turbo, make massive torque.
Like it says, by enthusiasts for enthusiasts.
Even crazy redlining enthusiasts, like me.
Now, the new GR86 really calls to me.
I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the 86.
I mean we did take first together at my home track, house of drift.
Yeah, well I can see why the all-new GR86 would pull at your heart strings Ken.
Yeah, the GR team really engineered razor sharp handling,
improved power, increased aerodynamics for this next generation track weapon.
This GR86 serves up thrills around every corner,
but you know my favorite part right?
Well it's got to be one of two things.
It's either the huge array of available GR performance parts, as you see over here.
Or it could be that every 2022 GR Supra and GR86
comes with a free one-year membership to the National Auto Sports Association.
It also includes,
one free high-performance driving experience on track with a professional driver.
You read my mind Lisa,
and I actually think I see the official GR86 pace car
from NASA championships at Daytona over there too.
All right, let's go check it.
I love this car.
Oh she's a beauty, look at the livery.
Looks great.
It looks perfect here in this setting.
Awesome, all right.
Well last year, you caught an exciting glimpse of this baby.
So say hello again, to the 2021 GR Supra Sport Top.
This guy is a tribute to the removable hardtop Supra of the 1990s,
but the GR Supra Sport top is definitely has its own personality.
You're absolutely right Lisa.
The roof's outer body structure has been reinforced,
and there's additional reinforcements underneath.
From the engine bay, all the way to the back of the tub.
The Toyota team actually hand built a custom rear diffuser
and added dual pipe custom exhaust setup.
The basket handle wing has also been integrated into the deck lid.
Great. So next up unveiled at SEMA 2019.
The Heritage Edition is backed by popular demand.
Yeah you're right, this modern tribute to the iconic Mark IV Supra boasts 500 plus horsepower,
innovative formula one style push rod rear suspension,
and Brembo monoblock calipers to rein and speed at all four corners.
All right, so together the GR Supra Heritage edition and GR Supra Sport top
feature the legendary performance and classic details of the Mark IV
while still maintaining the fresh modern look of the Mark V.
So thanks for your help this morning Ken.
Really appreciate it.
Ken Gushi everyone.
Give him a big hand.
Thank you.
All right, so Toyota's got some serious history when it comes to trucks
and at Toyota we're proud of our heritage and we've brought some old friends with us today.
So talk about vintage.
Take a look at this 1975 Toyota Hilux and this 1979 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach pace truck.
This 1989 SR5 here.
It won several awards that year, including Motortrends Truck of the Year
and finally 1995 marked the introduction of the Tacoma
and it's basically led the segment ever since.
But let's go ahead and fast forward to today.
Where more and more of our customers are taking their trucks off the beaten path.
We've seen interest in overlanding explode over the last few years.
It's where the journey is just as important as the destination.
It's the perfect match for the go anywhere, do anything reputation of our Toyota trucks and SUVs.
So leave it to the innovative minds of Toyota
to create an instant base camp
that's the perfect extension for any overland ready Toyota vehicle.
It's called the TRD Sport Trailer and here to show it to you
is Baja1000 winner, Nitro Circus alum and TV personality.
Andy Bell.
What's up Lisa?
Hi everybody here at SEMA.
I was taking a little bit of chill time here over with my
camp set up before everything gets started.
Yeah I can see that.
So tell me what you have going on over there Andy.
This is pretty insane, right?
This is a multi-tool, ready to go, pop-up campsite.
The TRD Sport Trailer is made from the truck bed of a Tacoma pickup
and all of this, goes right back into that.
That tent looks pretty darn comfortable.
Yeah it sure is, I've been sleeping here for a week waiting for this to get going.
Our friends over at Yakima sure know how to camp in style.
This trailer's got a hot water heater, a refrigerator, a generator,
heck even has a shower with a curtain,
and what's that there's some kind of a toilet in here.
That gold seat.
Well it looks like it's fit for a king.
I'll say.
King of the wild frontier.
Everything folds back up into the truck bed, the scissor lift drops back down
and the tent and the scissor lift disappear under the hard tonneau cover.
Presto. You’re ready to get back on the road.
It's magic,
but Andy why don't you join me over here to take a closer look
at this Toyota overlanding concept.
On my way boss.
Right.
Wait until you see this thing
Dang. What have you guys done with this thing?
This Tacoma looks amazing.
I mean I like to call it the Taco.
Well this is the handy work of our truck marketing team
and our partners at Cruiser Outfitters.
Like Toyota, they believe that life is bigger when you get outdoors and off the grid.
Well and by the looks of it, you're staying off the grid for a long time with this thing.
Check out how it's all decked out.
We got the ARB summer combo bar kit with fog lights up front.
Got the LED roof rack light bar up here, and back here
tongue twister of the day, the Expedition One Mule bakke rack bed system.
You guys try that,
and dual swing rear bumper system with integrated Rigid LED light pods back here
and that is just scratching the surface of everything on this overlanding warrior.
I gotta say, you had me at overlanding warrior.
Yeah, but okay are you ready to do some rock climbing?
You know I was born ready Lisa.
All right.
The lineup behind me knows no limits.
Our incredible TRD pro models,
the 2022 Tacoma, Sequoia, Tundra and the 4runner.
From the beginning, TRD pro vehicles were designed by the Toyota racing development team
to take off-road performance to the next level, and nowhere is that more apparent
than in our all-new 2022 Tundra TRD Pro.
It features the all new iforce Max hybrid powertrain
and it's as comfortable blasting over the sand dunes as it is towing a boat,
and we're excited to see all the places our customers are going to take the new Tundra
when it goes on sale at the end of the year.
Well, you got me excited when you said blasting over sand dunes,
so I'm going to be your first order.
I love the way that you guys integrated the light bar into the grille,
and the BBS forged wheels, those things are pretty sick.
Oh wait, I didn't even tell you. I got to drive this thing a few weeks ago.
Who would let me drive a prototype?
I don't know, but I got to.
This thing is an absolute beast.
Yeah well that sounds like a mistake, we'll check later
but that Tundra TRD Pro is definitely hot,
but it wouldn't be SEMA if we didn't turn it up to 11.
So follow me. We're going this way.
All right.
I'm liking what i'm hearing Lisa.
It sounds good, doesn't it?
It does.
Oh.
Yes.
Now you're speaking my language Lisa.
Oh yeah come on, look at this thing.
You know the cars are cute over there, but now we're in truck world.
I've been hearing the buzz around town on this thing Lisa and I gotta say
I'm so pumped to see this thing in person.
I know right?
The TRD team wanted to show just how tough the Tundra could be.
So they went kind of crazy.
Now this Tundra is all set up to be a chase support vehicle for open desert racing.
Which I know you love.
I do love
that LED light bar there looks like it could light up the entire Vegas strip
or maybe help me find that elusive Chupacabra down in the desert to Baja.
We got 37-inch all-terrain tires.
All sorts of official chase lights up there.
Two roll cage mounted spare tires,
custom mounted jack and Co2 bottle.
This baby really is the real deal, and I can't wait to take it off-roading in Baja.
Oh, I hope right?
Yeah. Well all in good time Andy.
I've got one more thing to show you.
So, you know Godzilla is the king of monsters right?
and who doesn't love a good street taco?
So just look at that emblem, of a taco and Godzilla
Good job.
All right, this is Tacozilla.
The king of overlanding.
It's a Tacoma that's been converted into a micro house on wheels.
I love the throwback. This reminds me of my parents campers in the 70s and early 80s.
The styling is incredible.
Yeah it was definitely inspired by those rigs, but Tacozilla takes it to a whole new level.
It's thoroughly modern and it's a way to unplug
from the hustle and bustle and escape to the great outdoors.
All right, I need to escape to the great outdoors but for now I just got to go check this thing out.
All right, go for it.
This is incredible guys.
This thing can sleep four people in here.
Can you believe that?
It's got a fully operational kitchen, full bathroom with hot water shower.
It's not a bolt-on camper. It's welded to the chassis and the cab.
Honestly, I can't really tell where the truck ends and the camper begins,
and it's been modified so that you can actually access the cab
right from the camper.
And I'm not a little guy.
So if I can do it, you could definitely fit through there.
How cool is that?
I know we all hate having to stop on the side of the road and climb through or go around.
Now you don't have to with Tacozilla.
This baby has TRD off-road suspension.
It's got a TRD skid plate up front.
Warn winch, and serious General Grabber x3 all-terrain tires right here.
Clearly, this wasn't meant for all your instagrammers in the driveway.
This is the real deal.
Yeah, I heard you out there.
And my favorite, six-speed manual transmission
for all that off-roading you guys are going to take this thing on.
Thank you Toyota.
I love this thing.
Yeah gotta love that.
The Tacoma was the perfect vehicle for this build.
It's nimble enough to go places a full-size pickup can’t.
Tacozilla can climb hills, traverse rocky terrain,
and reach summits where you can camp in one-of-a-kind style
This truly was the ultimate overland machine.
I didn't think Toyota's SEMA program could get any more awesome Lisa,
but I stand corrected.
Well that is all the time that we have for today.
A special thanks to Andy and Ken for helping me out
and I invite all of you to come up and enjoy a closer look
at these incredible Toyota cars and trucks
and be sure to check out the 2022 Tundra display at the new West Hall entrance
and have a great SEMA show everyone.