German Build Quality To Be Standard On New Supra - Is That A Good Thing?

It depends on how you understand "German build quality." For example, in Mercedes mid and high-end, they use luxurious materials, have excellent fit and finish, and their design looks luxurious, but the brand's defect numbers place them right beside Ford.

If they can manage to combine the interior/exterior build quality of the Germans, with the mechanical/electrical build quality of the Japanese, then it should be quite good.

The way it looks there are basically no Toyota mechanical bits or manufacturing in the new Supra. Expect reliability on par with any modern BMW which isn’t horrible but certainly not on par with the Japanese engineered/built Toyota products.

German engineering and aesthetic design are what they are and have been noted for. Japan is quality and reliability. The Japanese strength comes from they way they design the parts of the vehicle, the vendors they choose and how it goes together. The difference was described well in the book "The Machine that Changed the World". At every stage of a vehicle's design and manufacturing the Japanese focus on defect elimination. Their process stops when a defect is found and doesn't resume until it is corrected. The Germans sent a team of white coated quality inspectors to check the vehicle at the end of the manufacturing process. Its too late!

Nailed it!

Generally yes. The Germans make cars that can reliably drive and stop from very high speeds for hours on end, they traverse a lot of cobblestone streets and other rougher conditions. They also still normally look pretty good 5-10yrs down the road. They are overbuilt/engineered for our slower speeds which can make them more expensive to repair, however I would take them every time. After spending 6yrs between Germany and Czech I rarely saw an older Japanese car that held up well. Newer ones (and the Korean cars) seem to be doing better but time will tell.

It will be made by Magna which is the worlds largest parts manufacturer and contract manufacturer -a Canadian company with numerous factories globally. Build quality will be top tier as Magna built a solid reputation for quality goods and founder Frank Stronach would allow his company to make shit products.

This is the same company that made the BMW Z4, Boxster and many other cars and almost purchased Chrysler before Cerberus out bid them -lucky Magna. All that said the car will only be as good as it's components which if Japanese engineered should be bullet proof.

I'd rather have Japanese build quality and Japanese reliability. Japan is simply better at quality and reliability.

This car makes me sad. Sad for Toyota. Sad for current Supra owners. Sad all around. It did not have to be this way.

What did you expect? When they wanted to revive the hachi roku they turned the reins over to Subaru that had ZERO RWD experience. So Subaru dropped the front drive shafts on an Impreza and put a dull-looking coupe body over it. The fact that it wasn't killed before production suggests there is something wrong at Toyota. The fact that farming out the Supra to BMW moved forward suggests that Toyota cannot correct from its internal chaos. Finally, there is NO WAY that BMW will let the Supra be as good as their Z4. The Supra will be hobbled.

@MD, modern automotive realities notwithstanding, I expected Toyota to keep this inhouse and do it right. Maybe use the new Lexus coupe platform? No, it may not have been super profitable, but I am sure a lot of parts could be found for it in the Toyota/Lexus supply chain. The base car can have 350hp, twin turbo car, 475hp or so. It won't move in large quantities but if it is really a halo car and the top sports model for the Toyota brand, do it right.

If anything, having Toyota engineer the Supra and also a Z4 for BMW would have been the better choice for quality and reliability.

@MD-100% on point. I am sure BMW would not have allowed its car to be made in a Toyota factory so that is why things are the way they are. But it would have been a much better effort with Toyota engineering and manufacturing.

is brand loyalty the only thing one has to look for when purchasing a BMW vs Toyata in this case... are all the bits same otherwise... i would probably buy a "Toyota" if this is the case, typically their repair rates are lower.

The reality is the Supra potential market is too small for Toyota to recover development cost. So their strategy is to work with others for low volume vehicles such as 86, Yaris, FJ Cruiser and Supra. May also be a way to get an inside look for possible expanded ventures, like joint manufacturing as with Mazda and Subaru, or joint EV development.

That's true ONLY if they are aiming at the non-existent volume (sic) of cars like the Z4 an TT. If they were aiming at the Mustang/Challenger/Camaro market and sharing components with the IS, the business case would definitely be there.