Corolla Cross out in 2022 and signed for NZ

An elevated Corolla has been announced and Toyota New Zealand has signed up.

A PERENNIAL strong seller for Toyota is set for a rise in stature.

 The Corolla has become the next candidate passenger car for conversion into something it’s never previously been, a crossover.

Announcement of the – you guessed it – Corolla Cross came from today’s global unveiling in Thailand, where it is being built and will be sold first.

Availability in other right-hand-drive markets will commence in 2022. Toyota New Zealand has confirmed itself as a starter.  

“We have secured this product for our line-up and are excited to launch it in due course,” said chief executive Neeraj Lala.

“This addition will continue to add breadth to our overall range, with more SUV options for our customers. We will release more information closer to the time of launch.” 

Toyota head office says Corolla Cross benefits from its experience as a pioneer in recreational SUVs, which triggered 25 years ago with the original RAV4 - a vehicle that is now the world's best-selling SUV.

The brand sees this model as delivering a design philosophy of "Corolla meets SUV", blending the best aspects of both worlds. “It balances a dynamic, powerful, sleek and sophisticated design with high levels of SUV practicality,” according to the press information.

Corolla Cross is on the same GA-C platform as the Corolla hatch and sedan, ensuring a high level of body rigidity and a well-balanced chassis for responsive and agile driving, a comfortable ride and outstanding quietness, Toyota believes.

Other features include a spacious cabin, easy entry into and exit from the car and excellent luggage space, as well as a high level of safety equipment inherited from Corolla hatch and sedan.

The brand says Corolla Cross will place between Yaris Cross, releasing in NZ later this year, and RAV4 and be available with either a petrol engine or a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain, but has yet to be more specific.

GR Corolla? Toyota NZ’s revved

The big sleep might be ending, with talk about Toyota reviving an old-school favourite. What’s the local distributor’s reaction?

SPECULATION about Toyota Japan prepping a Gazoo Racing version of the Corolla sounds sweet to a local brand boss.

When asked for his thoughts about the potential of any such programme, Toyota New Zealand chief operating officer Neeraj Lala was unequivocal: Bring it on.

 Talk about the potential of a GR Corolla that would be a direct heir to the celebrated 4AGE 1.6-twin cam AE86 and GT Corollas of the 1980s has re-emerged on strength of a tweet sent out by Toyota America to media.

A message relating that the NZ-confirmed baby GR Yaris hot hatch is not a starter Stateside, the American operation raised flags – and hopes – by adding “it’s time the U.S. got a hot hatch to call its own.” 

Commentators saw that as a green light for Corolla, purely on strength that the brand’s top seller is the only other conventional hatchback in the Toyota line-up.

Sounds thin? Well, then consider what might be construed from this sole comment from Lala: “We are working hard on confirming this model, and would love to have it here in NZ.”

Interesting choice of words, right? Does ‘confirming’ mean there’s definitely something going on? Or is this just mischief?

Let’s not forget Toyota America’s interest in the concept of a hot Corolla has already been delivered in exactly that form. The highly-modified one-off special pictured here was a one-off created for the 2018 SEMA show in Las Vegas. 

Certainly, Lala and other TNZ high-ups are huge fanboys for Akio Toyoda’s aggressive expansion plan for its GR (Gazoo Racing) high-performance road cars.

NZ was amongst the first export customers for the GR Supra that has revived the brand’s most famous sports car and is also in the queue for the upcoming GR Yaris, a quasi-homologation homage to its World Rally Championship car 

If and when a GR Corolla does arrive, then don’t be surprised if it borrowed heavily from the GR Yaris, including using the blitzer baby’s 200kW/370Nm turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine and all-wheel drive system.

In addition to Supra and Yaris, the GR clan will also include the next-generation 86 sports coupe – with the GR 86 nameplate – by the end of 2021 and also the GR Super Sport, a road-going version of the race car Toyota is creating to run in the Le Mans hypercar category expected to start in the 2021/22 season, though the category is looking precarious after Aston Martin froze its programme.