Toyota confirms wild performance SUV: Carmaking giant's Chair says 'many people from around the world' should experience the Toyota Century GRMN SUV

Toyota Chair Akio Toyoda, formerly the company’s President and CEO, has confirmed a performance version of the brand’s plush Century SUV is on the way.

The Toyota Century GRMN concept revealed last year is set for production as told by Akio Toyoda on a trip to China to reportedly speak with young Century owners there.

There is one road-going Century GRMN, want to guess the owner? It's Akio Toyoda, of course, and when asked if there would be more he told the group that Toyota plans to put it into production.

Along with being asked by the attendee if the Century GRMN would go into production, Toyoda was also asked if the V8 engine previously seen in the Century would make it into the engine bay.

The Toyota Chair didn’t address the last part of the question, but said he hoped “many people from around the world” would be able to experience the Century GRMN, as his is the only one in the world… for now.

This would follow the Lexus LBX Morizo RR's recipe, with Akio building a sampler for himself before deciding it's good enough for public consumption.

Of course, chances are the Audi RSQ8, BMW X7 M60i and Mercedes-AMG GLS63 rival is a while away, but it lines up with what Australian motoring media was told recently by President of Gazoo Racing Tomoya Takahashi in Melbourne.

“To expand the GR brand, maybe [SUVs] are needed as well,” Takahashi told journalists via a translator when asked if he believed the brand could make a performance SUV work.

“Some people can only use SUVs because they have families,” he added, but said GR is limited by its resources compared to the rest of Toyota.

“GR Company only has small resources for development,” he said.

“In future, in my individual point of view, we need GR SUV cars,” he said, adding quickly, “in future!”

The Century isn’t currently available in Australia, and that’s unlikely to change any time soon, unfortunately.