From e-Sports to hosting street races locally, Toyota may have found another way to bring racing closer to the masses and attract a younger generation of fans to get into motorsports.

According to Nikkei Asia, Toyota is set to establish a Gazoo Racing kart factory in Aichi prefecture, where the first units will start to roll out by the BER months of 2026.

The report also says the go-karts will be sold under the Gazoo Racing brand, and will be rolled out to GR dealers and go-kart tracks in Japan. What’s more interesting is that Toyota will reportedly be selling these go-karts at far lower prices compared to established kart chassis makers.

As early as June 2025, Toyota Gazoo Racing was already holding test drive events for these GR Karts in Japan, and initial prototypes even come with special covers to protect drivers in a collision, as well as mounting kits and trolleys for easy loading and transporting.

While Toyota is yet to reveal specifications of the GR go-kart, they are looking to price it starting in the upper JPY 300,000 range, or about USD 1,800 (PHP 115,000). It’s a pretty big difference as rolling chassis from manufacturers like CRG, Tony Kart, and Birel start in the USD 3,500 (PHP 215,000) range.

Toyota says they are able to keep prices low since it will be using vehicle production technologies and lower-priced materials instead of chromoly steel. This will be important for Toyota as they try to revive karting among the youth in Japan.

That also means these GR karts are likely to be used in a one-make kart races, rather than be homologated for international competition like the FIA Karting World Championship.

The Japanese automaker is also looking to build between 1,000 and 2,000 units annually, and the report mentions the karts could also be offered outside Japan in the future. With production set to start soon, the official look of the karts will likely be revealed in the coming weeks. With that, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more information.