Toyota Corolla to soldier on with no replacement in sight

2025 marks the seventh year of production for Toyota’s 12th-generation Corolla, an age which would normally see a model replaced by an all-new generation. However, a top Toyota exec suggests the humble Corolla may reach a double-digit age before a replacement materialises.

The 12th-generation Corolla that’s currently on sale has already surpassed seven years in this country – but it’s looking like its lifespan is going to be stretched even further.

Speaking to carsales at the first local showing of the upcoming 2026 Toyota LandCruiser hybrid, Toyota’s head of sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, said there’s currently no retirement date set for the 12th-generation Corolla.

“Typically the lifecycle of any car can be between seven to 10 years, that’s not uncommon. But [regarding a Corolla replacement], there’s nothing happening on that,” Hanley said.

A seven-year-plus lifecycle for the Corolla nameplate is unprecedented. When the current-generation Toyota Corolla arrived in Australia in mid 2018, its predecessor had spent less than six years on the market at the time it was replaced. The tenth and ninth-generation Corollas also had six years of service before they were retired, and prior generations had four or five-year lifecycles.

But with slim margins and similar development costs to more profit-positive SUVs, small passenger cars are a tough business these days – and Toyota isn’t the only company that’s stretching out the lifespan of its small hatches and sedans.

The current Mazda3 launched in 2019, and like the Corolla it too has now reached the typical retirement age of a passenger car with no replacement in sight. Meanwhile the current-gen Hyundai i30 is getting particularly wrinkly, as it notched up eight years in Australia this year. However, word on the street is that an all-new i30 replacement will debut in 2026.

How long until we see an all-new Corolla? With Hanley mentioning a seven to 10-year lifecycle, that may provide a clue, but will it be closer to seven years, or a full decade? In China, a substantial facelift for the Corolla Allion (a stretched-wheelbase version of the Corolla sedan) has been leaked, which hints at a new global face for the Corolla. C-shaped LED headlamps blended with a fascia-spanning grille echoes that of the facelifted Camry, bZ-4X and Prius, while the rear features new tail-lamps.

Whether that new styling flows through to the Australian Corolla range is still to be confirmed, but it’s clear that if Toyota intends to extend the lifespan of its popular small car well beyond what has been normal in the past, an all-encompassing facelift would arguably help keep it competitive through to, potentially, a 2028 retirement.

In Australia, the performance-focused Toyota GR Corolla may be the next Corolla variant to receive an update, with a heavily strengthened bodyshell, improved audio system and extra intake ducting having just been announced for the Japanese market.

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