Retro revivals will always be a thing in the world of cars. Whether it’s design or in bringing back a memorable nameplate, anything that reminds us of nostalgia will grab attention.
All automakers are well aware of that. Which is why nameplate revivals are also such a tricky thing to do. It should please those with rose-tinted glasses that remember the model of their youth, all while appealing to a new generation.
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The latest model that might get a revival is the Toyota Starlet. That’s according to a report from the Japanese motoring site Best Car. Not only that, the site says that the model will be revealed sometime in 2026. A pretty bold claim, we say.
But there’s more. According to the report, the Starlet will come back with electric power, and that’s the part that’s making us a tad skeptical. While Toyota has been at the forefront of electrification, it has also expressed some concerns about pure electric power. It’s not that Toyota is anti-EV, but rather, it believes that it’s not the only solution towards carbon neutrality. Another concern is that not all countries can easily adapt to an EV infrastructure.
So, where does this rumored Starlet come in? With the way it’s going, we see Toyota continuing finding breakthroughs in hybrid energy. Given that the Starlet is known as a budget model, it doesn’t seem likely that Toyota will build a model from scratch to make an electric version happen. The company doesn’t have a dedicated EV platform for subcompact cars just yet, and developing one will be an expensive endeavor.
Toyota could use a present chassis and adapt an EV drivetrain from there. The TNGA-B platform seems like a possible candidate given that it can already accommodate a hybrid system. But from what we’re seeing, it’s more likely that Toyota will keep finding breakthroughs in hybrid energy, synthetic fuels, and other alternative power sources besides electricity.
Besides, the Starlet still exists in some parts of the world as a rebadged Suzuki Baleno.
