Toyota's Gazoo Racing division has been pumping out exciting cars and concepts as of late. Okay, so we're probably not counting the recently-announced Toyota Corolla Sedan GR Sport, but the GRMN Yaris and GR GT3 Concept are undeniably as hot as any new and exciting car could get. This latest report, however, might leave a number of car enthusiasts unwelcoming of the upcoming GR Corolla hot hatch.

That's because Toyota is reportedly planning to equip the GR Corolla with an automatic transmission. Okay, to be clear, it will most likely launch with a manual transmission first, but it's been reported by the Japanese automotive website Best Car Web that an automatic transmission will be offered down the line.

This should make sense if Toyota wants to pit the GR Corolla against other hot hatches with an optional two-pedal setup, such as the Volkswagen Golf R and GTI, and the Hyundai Veloster N. But this raises another question, what kind of automatic will Toyota fit into the GR Corolla?

For us to speculate, we should take a look at Toyota's current lineup. The Japanese automaker sources its transmission from Aisin, but they don't produce a dual-clutch transmission that all of its two-pedal hot hatch rivals have. They do have a DirectShift CVT that's combined with an actual first gear, but this transmission is not befitting of a hot hatch if we're being honest.

The most viable option would probably be their traditional torque-converter eight-speed automatic, but all of this is speculation until Toyota actually announces such an option for the GR Corolla.

Best Car Web also reports that the GR Corolla's engine will be more powerful than what the GR Yaris produces. While they'll both share the same 1.6-liter three-cylinder turbo gasoline engine, the GR Corolla is speculated to produce 300 horsepower, while torque is unchanged at 273 pound-feet.

Considering how much Toyota has been sneakily teasing the GR Corolla hot hatch, its public debut will probably happen this year.