2016 Toyota Mirai to be built at former Lexus LFA plant

By Stephen Edelstein December 1, 2014

With its screaming V10 engine and carbon-fiber bodywork, the Lexus LFA was likely the most advanced production car Toyota had ever built when it launched in 2010.

Now, the factory that built that limited-edition supercar will be used for another high-tech model: the 2016 Toyota Mirai fuel-cell car. The press release practically writes itself.

In an interview with Automotive News (subscription required) Toyota sales executive Masamoto Maekawa revealed that the Motomachi, Japan, plant will be converted to Mirai production, which may not be too different from building a supercar.

Maekawa expects just 700 units of the hydrogen Mirai to roll off the assembly line in its first year of production. In comparison, the entire production run of the LFA was just 500 units, built over one year.

Like a supercar, there will reportedly be more hand assembly involved in building the Mirai, which is why Toyota chose the Motomachi plant and plans to keep production limited.

The company is also unsure of demand for the car, given the current lack of hydrogen fueling stations. It doesn’t want to build more cars than it can sell.

The Motomachi plant was left without a purpose after the LFA’s production run ended. Toyota had previously considered using it to make carbon-fiber parts for other models, and also built a limited run of carbon-fiber bicycles there.

Now though, Motomachi will be building another hand-assembled, low-volume, high-tech car. It may be a four-door sedan with just 153 horsepower, but in many ways it’s just as exotic as the dearly departed LFA.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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