Toyota Australia will launch an all-new premium Corolla hatch in August featuring a bolder, more dynamic exterior design and a more rewarding driving experience.
The next-generation Corolla hatch - unveiled to the world at the Geneva international motor show - is built on a new platform that gave designers the freedom to create a visually distinctive and individual look.
Longer and wider than the current car, and featuring a longer wheelbase, the new Corolla hatch is imbued with a lower stance and more appealing proportions.
The Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform features a lower centre of gravity, multi-link rear suspension and more rigid body shell that contribute to better handling and stability without compromising ride and comfort.
New Corolla hatch will provide elevated safety levels with standard fitment of sophisticated functions and systems in the latest Toyota suite of safety technologies, including autonomous emergency braking.
A new 2.0-litre petrol engine will offer substantially more power and torque than the current car while requiring even less fuel.
Buyers will also be able to choose the latest version of Toyota's 1.8-litre hybrid powertrain with improved low-range torque and an impressive range of all-electric driving on the everyday commute.
Its fuel efficiency will rival the hybrid halo model, Prius, while fulfilling all the requirements customers have come to expect from a Toyota full hybrid powertrain - silent, intuitive, responsive and self-sufficient.
Toyota Australia's vice-president sales and marketing Sean Hanley said the TNGA-based design and fun-to-drive characteristics would transform the entire Corolla hatch ownership experience.
"New Corolla hatch is a more premium and stylish car that guarantees a more rewarding driving experience and places a priority on the highest active and passive safety standards," Mr Hanley said.
"These generational improvements have been made possible through TNGA, which is integral to the company's mission to build ever-better cars that will excite a new generation of buyers," he said.
"At the same time, Corolla retains the proven, dependable and safe reputation that has made it Australia's top-selling passenger car for the past five years in a row."
In Australia, cumulative Corolla sales have topped 1.4 million since the first cars were sold in 1967.
The new Corolla's design is lower, longer and wider than the current hatch, and features a longer wheelbase.
Toyota Global Design executive general manager Simon Humphries said the primary goal was to produce the boldest and most dynamic hatch on the market without compromising interior usability.
"Harnessing the low centre of gravity afforded by the TNGA layout, the vehicle is light and agile in the side view, yet as we move to the rear, the architecture transforms to create a solid, wide and low stance," Mr Humphries said.
TNGA represents the foundation for all Toyota's future vehicle development. It marks a revolution in the way the company designs, engineers and manufactures its vehicles. It introduces new, defined guidelines for the positioning of different state-of-the-art components which simplify vehicle design in key areas.
Corolla hatch's overall length has been increased by 40mm, all of which has been absorbed within the longer wheelbase.
The roof's peak has been lowered 25mm, while the cowl height is a significant 47mm lower than that of the current model.
The result is a sleeker shape and a more attractive, lower bonnet, which in turn improves safety by giving the driver a clearer forward view.
The new frontal styling is a further evolution of Toyota's Under Priority and Keen Look design philosophies.
A flatter, clamshell bonnet with a curved front edge sits above a narrow upper grille that incorporates a central Toyota logo and, at its extremities, new LED headlamp clusters with integral daytime running lights.
The surround to the large, trapezoidal lower grille projects powerfully forward of the bonnet front edge and upper grille in a pronounced step, and is less pointed and more vertical, resulting in a front overhang that is reduced by 20mm.
The sides of the grille surround form a trademark "catamaran" hull shape at the front corners of the new Corolla, emphasising the vehicle's 30mm increase in width, and its broad, sporting stance.
Beneath the grille, the surround splits to clearly define the lip of a front spoiler, the edges of which are angled upwards to create a zone between the spoiler and the catamaran hull form. A newly designed grille mesh is more refined than the classic honeycomb finish.
Rear design is more rounded, strengthening the visual relationship between the front and rear of the vehicle. An increase in rear windscreen rake of 14 degrees combines with the muscular hip adopted above the rear-wheel arch to make the overall appearance more compact, even with a 20mm increase in rear overhang.
The rear LED lamp clusters feature light guides that are designed to emphasise the wide, planted rear stance of the new Corolla hatch.
The rear bumper echoes the styling at the front and features a thin lower lip incorporating twin chrome inserts.
