Culled from Punch
Toyota may have further widened the gap between it and its closest rivals in the car segment as it delivers a more stylish Corolla, one with more room and a renewed focus on fuel economy.
The leading auto manufacturer has chosen the biggest auto market, the United States, to do the unveiling as reported on Monday by online news medium, CNBC.
Spotlights and acrobats ushered in the all-new version of the Toyota Corolla in Santa Monica, California as hundreds of journalists and guests were momentarily dazed by the new look car.
This is coming at a time competition in the compact market is rapidly heating up.
While the Toyota Corolla has consistently landed amidst America’s 10 best-selling passenger vehicles, it has been losing momentum to such challengers as the Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra—and classic rival Honda Civic—in recent years, the report notes.
Even the critics of the old Toyota Corolla have long gaped at the consistent loyalty of Corolla owners.
Often faulted for its conservative styling and generally boring handling and performance, consumers in the US and another 153 countries have nonetheless long embraced the Corolla, which has sold more than 40 million copies since it was first introduced in Japan in 1966.
Toyota Corolla has consistently emerged the best and highest selling car for many years in many countries, including Nigeria.
For instance, in Australia, the Corolla had led the market on 20 individual months over the past eight years, a report by news.com.au said
The latest report from New Zealand also indicated the much-improved Corolla topped the sales’ tables in the country.
In Nigeria, Corolla has remained a dominant model among highest selling vehicles, winning awards for the category for many years back to back.
Corolla is a benchmark among compact cars for value, quality and dependability.
A four-door, compact sedan with front-wheel drive, many say the Corolla is inexpensive to buy and operate, yet it feels like a small version of the Toyota Camry.
It comes standard with power windows, locks, and remote keyless entry.
The Corolla continues to come with a comprehensive list of standard safety equipment.
Toyota Division General Manager, Mr. Bill Fay, says the latest Corolla is a product of extensive research with a lot of input from its spectrum of customers.
He explains that the objective is to elevate the impact the new Corolla has on individual motorists.
He says, “It looks sportier and feels better,” adding the 2014 Corolla adopts the new “Iconic Dynamism” design theme first seen on the latest-generation Avalon sedan. According to him, this is in fulfilment of the company’s President, Mr. Akio Toyoda, who has promised to deliver more passionate products.
Engine
The 2014 Corolla offers two different 1.8-litre, all-aluminum four-cylinder engines, the base version rated 132 horsepower, the upgrade getting 140 hp.
The Corolla’s new LE Eco trim level is equipped with a 1.8-litre engine with Valvematic, a valve train technology which appears on Corolla for the first time in North America.
Exterior
Though not nearly as radical in design, the remade 2014 Toyota Corolla clearly borrows some of the design cues of the Furia Concept first unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show last January.
Some of the unique features are the bolder stance, the angular new framing of the front bumper and lower grille.
The production version of the Corolla adopts lamps, a feature normally found in much more expensive products.
While not as sleek as the lamps in the Furia show car, this move allowed Toyota designers to execute more deeply rounded corners and abandon the classic, boxy appearance of the outgoing, 10th-generation Corolla.
Interior
Fay says the 11th generation Corolla, which sits on a wheel base nearly four-inches longer than the old model will have the interior volume of a midsize car. The extra length is apparent in the larger back seat.
Compared to the outgoing model, the rear seat hip point has been moved back nearly three inches and additional legroom was gained by adopting a thinner, more sculpted front seat.
Toyota officials say engineers have worked to make the cabin quieter, road and engine sounds mitigated by an acoustic glass windscreen, improved floor carpet insulation, and a more effective instrument panel seal among other things.
Fuel economy
Toyota may have hit the mark with its emphasis on better mileage for the 2014 Corolla, with rising fuel price in the international market.
The Eco version of the sedan is expected to “to do better than 40 miles per gallon,” Fay says, since for the first time, the Corolla will be equipped with a continuously variable transmission, or CVT.
The added size and improved fuel economy are all but certain to help draw in new buyers even as the Corolla badge helps Toyota maintain the loyalty of traditional owners.
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