South Africa next? Old Continent Toyota Corolla updated

With the RAV4 and most recently the Corolla Cross having benefitted from a series of upgrades inside and out, Toyota has now done the same with regular Corolla line-up in Europe.

What has changed?

A likely preview of what could be applied to South African models at some stage, the exterior tweaks to the Corolla sedan, hatch and Touring Sports estate consists of a redesigned front bumper, a restyled grille with a mesh pattern and on high-end versions of the hatch and Touring Sports, new bi-LED headlights.

The exterior revisions conclude with three new colours; Metallic Grey with dark silver flakes available on all three models, a sedan exclusive hue called Green Midnight Teal and Juniper Blue reserved for the hatch.

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Available for the first time is the Corolla GR Sport that follows the same principle as the Corolla Cross GR Sport, RAV4 GR Sport and C-HR GR Sport by receiving Gazoo Racing touches not expanded to additional motivation underneath the bonnet.

New infotainment

As such, the GR Sport distinguishes itself from the regular Corolla hatch and Touring Sports by GR specific 18-inch alloy wheels, GR front and rear bumpers, wider door sills and on the inside, a GR starter button and GR embroidered headrests.

Not unique to the GR but similar to the rest of the range are the interior changes, namely upgraded materials, improved seat upholstery and on mid-range derivatives and up, the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster the Australian market Corolla Cross also comes out with.

The final new addition is the 10.5-inch touchscreen infotainment that features over-the-air updates, voice control and Apple CarPlay as well as Android Auto.

New on the safety side is Emergency Steering Assist, Rear Seat Reminder, Safe Exit Assist, Collision Avoidance and Acceleration Suppression that reduces sudden throttle response at low speeds.

Hybrid only power

Up front, Toyota has kept the pair of hybrid engines unchanged, meaning combined outputs of 103 kW from the entry-level 1.8 and 145 kW for the flagship 2.0-litre. As standard, both are paired to a CVT with drive going to the front wheels.

Should South Africa get it?

Going on-sale in the first quarter of this year, the revisions, though not confirmed for South Africa as such, could well be introduced at a later stage as part of an extension of the mid-life tweaks applied to the Corolla range in November last year.

If approved, expect an announcement before the end of the year.

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