New Corolla to debut in August

Toyota’s all-new 10th-generation Corolla hatch will be launched locally in October at the Australian International Motor Show, but it is already in Australia undergoing top-secret testing to validate its suitability to local conditions.

Toyota Australia Corporate Manager for Product Planning, Greg Gardner, told motoring.com.au that a handful of the new cars were already being tested here.

“We've got some sample vehicles now in Australia that we have to keep under maximum security because we don’t want to break the worldwide embargo,” he revealed.

Benefitting from what is expected to be the most significant update to its design in the last couple of decades, the new Corolla five-door will be launched in a number of major global markets except America, where the Corolla sedan is the sole offering.

The current Corolla – which is known as the Auris overseas - has been flying the flag for Toyota since 2007 and images of what is believed  to be the next-generation hatch were recently outed by a Japanese magazine.

“The styling, as you've seen from the all things that've been seen scooped, is a lot better. It's a lot lower, it's a got a lower centre of gravity, it's got a couple of nice interior features - a lot of brightwork, things like that - and a lot of influence from the European market.”

Mr Gardner wouldn’t confirm whether suspension would be one of the areas that came in for recalibration by Toyota Australia engineers,

"There will be some development done by the technical centre," was all he would say.

Sales of the current Corolla are running hot in Australia so far this year - up almost 12 per cent to the end of May, at 15,222 vehicles, making it the nation’s second most popular new vehicle outright, behind the Mazda3.

However, Toyota expects the all-new Corolla to take the fight back to the Mazda3, which last year eclipsed Holden’s Commodore as Australia’s favourite car after 15 consecutive years, due to its sportier new look and a more involving chassis designed to take on its more dynamic rivals.

Indeed, the Japanese giant is cautiously confident its next Corolla will go a long way to changing people’s perceptions of Toyota as the 'white goods on wheels’ car-maker.

“We like to think our rightful place is in front of the Mazda3, but they've been doing quite well recently," said Mr Gardner, who made it clear the plan is to claim the number one spot from the Mazda3.

While the Toyota Corolla hatch will make its public debut – as the new Auris - at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, Mr Gardner and other sources inside Toyota confirmed to motoring.com.au that the car would break cover ahead of the French show in September, sometime in August.

“I’m not sure of the exact timing,” said Mr Gardner. “I know there's a global embargo - it's around about August. It’s the all-new global model, for Australia, Europe, everybody.” Except North America, which doesn’t get the hatch.

While European customers will again get access to a hybrid version of the Corolla in the Auris Hybrid, it's unlikely to come to Australia in the short-term.

However, Mr Gardner said the long-term strategy is to eventually offer hybrid versions of almost all Toyota’s mainstream models, indicating that its dedicated-hybrid Prius family would eventually be phased out.

“Rather than a Corolla wagon we have a Rukus, rather than a Corolla hybrid we have a Prius, and rather than a Yaris hybrid we have a Prius c,” he said.

“Probably in terms of marketing efficiency it’s better having lots of different variants off one model, but we are basically taking what we can get.”

“As the cost of the premium of hybrids comes down we want to just make it an engine variant and so we're going move away from that Prius, Prius v, Prius c, to Camry Hybrid, Corolla Hybrid, Yaris Hybrid," said Mr Gardner.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site…