New Corolla breaks cover

This week's 2006 Paris Mondial de L'Automobile might have been graced with exotica like the Alfa 8C and Porsche's latest 911 GT3 RS and mega dollar luxury cars from Maybach and Rolls Royce but arguably the most important car for the Australian market was Toyota's Auris.

A show car if you believe the official line, in fact, the Auris is for all intents and purposes the new Corolla.

Styled after a fashion of the Yaris and with Toyota's new and none too attractive 'koala' nose, the Auris is no looker. Instead, under the show-car body-kit it is a relatively staid, if larger, conventional five-door hatch. Mind you, what would you expect when the car's role is to replace the Japanese giant's volume-selling model.

The showcar rolls on 19-inch wheels, a premium brake package and prominent twin exhausts.

Looks are derivative -- and clearly based on the current Corolla. For the record, Toyota says the car is “Designed from the inside out... maximising interior space and comfort while promising an engaging drive.

“Auris space concept is tall and spacious. The high waistline, short overhangs and forward balance of the cabin architecture ensure it retains a sense of dynamism and agility. We call this perfect imbalance”, Wahei Hirai, Toyota Global Design Managing Officer said.

The production Corolla will likely eschew the Auris' glass panorama roof and complex front and rear lamps. Expect the instrument panel to be simplified and the interior surfaces to feature 'tamer' hues when it arrives Down Under in mid-2007.

We'd tip that the Auris' aggressive body kit will go by the wayside too -- at least in the cooking model Corollas.

The Auris continues the trend previous generations of Corolla have set: growth. Though Toyota released precious little hard information about the Auris at Paris, it did quote dimensions. The new car is 46mm longer than the outgoing model at 4226mm and 67mm wider (1762). It's also taller at 1530mm -- up 60mm. With the exception of height, it closely parallels VW's latest Golf 5 (4216l/1759w/1466h).

Sources on the ground in Paris suggested the Auris is the first step in 'selling' the new Corolla to European buyers. Unlike markets like Australia, the world's best selling car has not been a runaway success in the backyard of VW, Renault, Peugeot and the like.