With COVID-19 canceling the Tokyo Auto Salon for 2021, to say that the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon was well anticipated would be an understatement.

The 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon kicked the year off in style, reminding car fanatics once again that there are a lot of great things to come. Besides the new reveals and wild concepts, there were a variety of tastefully modified cars, all pushing forward the positivity of the new year. With Japan's history of drifting and iconic JDM vehicles, it should come as no surprise that the Japanese are doing amazing things. However, one Japanese manufacturer stood out from the rest as having been the center of attention for the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Let's go on to see how Toyota stole the show and look at some of their cars featured in the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Toyota Hits Another Level With The GR GT3 Concept

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Via: MotorAuthority

Toyota has teased a GT3 concept car for a while now, making sure to keep everything under wraps until now.

Luckily for us, Toyota has chosen to reveal their new GR GT3 concept car at the Tokyo Auto Salon, and we have never seen anything like this from Toyota before. Quite literally, the car is not based on any previous Toyota model but an entirely new beast. The car is said to be specifically designed for GT3 racing, and thus it is unlikely that we will see a road-legal variant. Furthermore, Toyota has decided to build a completely new platform rather than use an existing model to test new performance technologies. Admittedly, these technologies have not been discussed in any more detail and the car itself remains pretty much a mystery. The long extended hood and sleek wrap-around rear resemble the Batmobile more than a racing Toyota, demonstrating an advanced level of engineering rarely seen outside of the silver screen.

However, judging by the exhaust pipes, it seems that this phantom will be a petrol-powered monster and not an EV. Furthermore, the gray color scheme might be an indication that the car features carbon fiber, which would be logical considering the car is designed to compete in GT3 racing. Again, there is no word on powertrain, transmission or any other mechanical specification, but Toyota has stated that they will have a working prototype by the end of the year.

The GR GT3 was developed by Toyota's Gazoo Racing motorsport division to be a fully-fledged customer race car.

RELATED: 5 Best And 5 Worst Toyota Sports Cars Over The Years

New Trim Makes The BZ4X EV Concept Even Sportier

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Via: InsideEVs

The GR Sport trim was a recurring feature of Toyota's exhibition at the Tokyo Auto Salon and if we are honest there's a good reason for that.

Toyota revealed the bZ4X EV towards the end of last year and even back then, it looked really promising. This hyper-advanced EV is set to be a relatively affordable SUV with the luxury and refinement usually associated with Lexus, not Toyota. The car is said to be available in three different trims; LE, XLE, and Limited, with different features and performance levels between them. The car is said to be publicly available by the middle of this year. Now, if that was not enough to get you excited, Toyota revealed the bZ4X at the Tokyo Auto Salon in the sexy new GR Sport trim.

That's right! One of the most exciting EV SUVs just got more exciting. Admittedly, Toyota has not revealed the mechanical specs of this car so there is no way to know if the car will feature a performance boost over the standard line or if the changes are mostly design orientated. From the details visible at the Tokyo Auto Salon the GR Sport trim blacks out the standard trim, provides larger wheels, sports seats and seems to sit lower than the standard bZ4X EV.

GRMN Yaris Hot Hatch Set To Rival The Europeans

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Via: MotorAuthority

For a long time, power and performance were associated with big cars, with small cars thought to be incapable and unworthy of performance. However, the last decade has seen a variety of hot hatches powerful enough to challenge heavyweights.

The Toyota Yaris GR is an already impressive hot hatch, with its small size no restriction on its powerful performance. However, Toyota has decided to take things up another notch and created the GRMN Yaris. Featuring weight reduction, Recaro bucket seats, a mechanical LSD and refined gear ratios, the newest Yaris is set to be a truly impressive hot hatch. The powertrain is a turbocharged 1.6-Liter inline-three engine with a six-speed manual, creating a total of 268 HP. Unfortunately, this car will be restricted to the Japanese market, talk about a modern JDM car, however, there are rumors that Toyota will be making an upgraded Corolla for the US market.

All in all, Toyota has really outdone itself and presented a new generation of performance vehicles. Keep your eyes on this space as more information will be released as these cars go into production.

Sources: HotCars, Toyota, MotorAuthority, MotorSport and CarAndDriver