Toyota PH prepping 2022 GR Supra with 6-speed manual?

When Toyota Motor Philippines launched the GR Supra in 2019, many were critical of the model for a variety of reasons. It was built with (and by) BMW, it was pricey (it's imported from Europe after all), and it didn't have a manual transmission.

Toyota couldn't do anything about the first two; had they engineered and built it on their own in Japan and without the help of BMW (who has a really good straight six engine), it would have been much more expensive than it is now. But they could do something about the third: putting in a manual transmission.

Just recently, Toyota has been launching the manual version of the venerable GR Supra in other markets around the world. And if we're correct on this tip, it seems the Philippines could be next.

We have spotted that Toyota Motor Philippines has received approval for a passenger car with a 3.0-liter gasoline engine with an exact displacement of 2998cc. Toyota does not have a gasoline engine in their lineup with that exact displacement, except for the GR Supra.

Now an automaker doesn't have to get these kinds of government agency certifications for models already on the market, but they do if there's a significant change in the drivetrain like a new turbo, a new engine control system, and yes, a different transmission.

Much of this is still conjecture, but the signs do point to a GR Supra with a manual transmission. When they launched the 3.0L GR Supra A/T in July 2019, they got approval for the model in May 2019. And when I double-checked, the curb weight is the same so it stands to reason that what they are having approved is another GR Supra variant, and the only other possible version is the manual one.

As to when they would launch it (if it is the manual version) is anyone's guess. Given the timeline from approval to launch, we could be looking at a September 2022 launch.