It seems that Toyota is not expecting to sell enough of these "Supras" to justify the cost of developing/engineering an entirely new platform from the ground up, so they put a Toyota badge on a BMW.
Once the available stock of serviceable mid-late 90's to mid 2000's Toyotas runs out, I see myself giving up on the brand.
You hit the nail on the head here. Don't like it for Supra, all about money.
The developing/engineering, Toyota could handle in house with the facilities they have, R&D is tip of the iceberg.
Getting it to production is the money hog since Supra is so different from current platforms they have.
That being the case means dedicated production lines from steel rolls and stamping dies till it's driving out the door.
Trim and Chassis right before it drives out the door is easiest integration part.
Paint, program robots already in use to spray Supra when Supra VIN hits the deck.
The body shop is the money hog, sub cells, cells, body main is all dedicated.
Then you need floorspace to put it, not cheap in Japan, Supra would deff be built in Japan.
A off the cuff est, 100 mil+ to get it out the door plus R&D costs for a niche ride.
So I see why they chose the route they did.
You ever get a chance to tour a auto plant do it, the automation is amazing.
It's a whole lotta fun making the robots dance together.