The Toyota Corolla may be getting more power, newer technology and fresher styling as part of its mid-life update.
In addition to the usual cosmetic tweaks, the updated Corolla will reportedly get a new hybrid system and infotainment.
Japanese outlet Creative Trend reports the updated Corolla, launching in Japan in October 2022, will get the updated 1.8-litre hybrid four-cylinder powertrain of the new Noah and Voxy people movers.
The new vans use the latest generation of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, and feature a 1.8-litre petrol four-cylinder hybrid powertrain with increased motor and battery output.
Total system output in the Noah and Voxy hybrids is 103kW. The current 1.8-litre hybrid Corolla sold here has a total output of 90kW.
Japanese-market Corollas will reportedly lose their naturally-aspirated 1.8-litre and turbocharged 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engines in favour of the Yaris’ 1.5-litre three-pot.
The Australian-market Corolla’s base engine is currently an atmo 2.0-litre four with 125kW of power and 200Nm of torque.
It’s unclear whether Toyota Australia will use the mid-life update as an opportunity to introduce the European-market 135kW 2.0-litre hybrid four.
European-market 2022 Corolla
The Corolla will reportedly receive the usual visual tweaks to its exterior – revised headlights and tail lights, a refreshed rear bumper, and a new grille insert.
Inside, Creative Trend reports the latest generation of Toyota infotainment will feature in the Corolla, with a choice of 8.0-inch Display Audio and 10.5-inch Display Audio Plus touchscreens.
This will be new for the Japanese-built Corolla, however Toyota Europe already announced the new 8.0-inch system for the UK-built Corolla late last year.
Toyota Australia announced today its updated RAV4, due in the second half of this year, will feature “the latest generation multimedia system across the range that incorporates USB-C connection and the addition of Toyota Connected Services”.
The company announced it was rolling out Connected Services across most of its range earlier in 2022, but this didn’t include the RAV4 or Corolla. Nor did it include the C-HR, another model that’s been revealed in Europe with the new-generation infotainment system.
An earlier report from Creative Trend indicated the updated Corolla would receive updates to its Toyota Safety Sense suite.
It’s unclear what those would be, but the updated RAV4 will receive emergency steering assist (which can help panicked drivers steer around an obstacle to avoid a crash) and intersection pre-collision safety (which prepares the car if it detects an imminent crash pulling out of an intersection).
In addition to the new infotainment, the Corolla will reportedly also receive a new 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster in some variants.
Other models will reportedly continue with the current 4.2-inch and 7.0-inch instrument cluster screens. In Australia, the 4.2-inch screen is used on the Ascent Sport and SX and the 7.0-inch on the ZR.
It’s unclear when these updates will arrive in Australia.
Toyota Australia is getting ready to launch the hotly-anticipated, endlessly-teased GR Corolla, a manic turbocharged all-wheel drive hot hatch flagship.
GR Corolla
It heavily on the smaller GR Yaris, using a version of its turbocharged three-cylinder engine, six-speed manual gearbox, and variable all-wheel drive system.
First arrivals are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022.
While it won’t be a volume player in the same vein as, say, the Ascent Sport hybrid hatch, the GR Corolla may help the Corolla claw back some ground lost to the Hyundai i30.
While the Corolla was Australia’s best-selling passenger car in 2021, it’s been overtaken in the 2022 sales race by the Hyundai.
Thanks in large part to the addition of a new sedan model – a renamed, new-generation Elantra – the i30 is sitting at 5853 sales to the end of March.
The Corolla is sitting at 5037 sales, still comfortably ahead of the Kia Cerato (3634) and Mazda 3 (3559).
