Sitting in a quiet nook of FAW Toyota’s Auto Guangzhou sales space is the facelifted Twelfth-generation Toyota Corolla sedan – stunning given that is the most well-liked model of what’s nonetheless the best-selling automobile of all time. The dearth of consideration to this automotive belies the numerous adjustments which have been made, aimed toward holding it contemporary after a whopping seven years in the marketplace.
As seen in a earlier leak, the Corolla receives an all-new entrance finish that takes a web page from the newest Prius and Camry, sporting Toyota’s newest “hammerhead” design lined framed by C-shaped headlights. Decrease down, you’ll discover L-shaped bumper corners with built-in fog lights main into the slimmer centre air consumption.
The cross-spoke alloy wheels are additionally new, wanting suspiciously just like the rollers on the facelifted sixth-generation Lexus ES from 2015 – they even have the identical 17-inch diameter. Additionally added is a black triangle on the trailing fringe of the rear quarter mild home windows to visually lengthen the glasshouse, whereas on the rear, an illuminated crimson strip has been added to attach the (now smoked) inverted L-shaped taillights.
Even greater adjustments are to be discovered inside. There’s a much more fashionable dashboard and door card design incorporating full-width air vents and one other row of centre vents beneath. Beneath this you’ll discover a wider centre console with twin smartphone holders (one among which homes a Qi wi-fi charger), as is now in style in China.
The Corolla continues to make use of an 8.8-inch digital instrument show, however the centre touchscreen is now a floating unit measuring an enormous (by Toyota requirements at the very least) 12.9 inches throughout, working on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip. Controversially, the bodily air-con switchgear has been changed by in-touchscreen controls; it stays to be seen if this will likely be carried over to international markets the place the automotive’s typical purchaser profile is often rather more conservative.
It’s all change underneath the bonnet as effectively. Out go the Chinese language-market 1.2 litre 9NR-FTS four-cylinder and 1.5 litre M15B-FTS three-pot engines, in favour of a 171 PS 2.0 litre M20E-FTS naturally-aspirated mill that’s seemingly mated to a CVT. There’s additionally a hybrid mannequin that makes use of a 98 PS 1.8 litre Atkinson-cycle engine and twin electrical motors, together with a brand new nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery. Toyota claims this variant is able to a mixed gasoline consumption of 4.13 litres per 100 km and a variety of 1,041 km.
Might we see the facelifted Corolla in international markets comparable to Malaysia? Such a far-reaching improve is actually vital, given the Twelfth era’s age and the truth that the out-there next-gen mannequin nonetheless appears a methods away from reaching manufacturing. Nonetheless, we’ll in all probability obtain a much less fancy infotainment system and a special engine – seemingly the identical 139 PS/172 Nm 2ZR-FE 1.8-litre Twin VVT-i mill as earlier than.
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