The Toyota Corolla (E210) is the twelfth generation of the Corolla, a compact car (C-segment) manufactured by Toyota. Introduced in 2018, this generation has also grown to include hatchback and estate (station wagon) configurations in addition to the saloon (sedan).
Since 2022, a high-performance model became available as the GR Corolla. Based on the hatchback model, the GR Corolla is marketed under the Gazoo Racing family of high-performance cars.
Its platform-sharing vehicles include the Toyota Corolla Cross, a compact crossover SUV, and the Toyota C-HR, an SUV with a hatchback-like body.
Overview The E210 series Corolla was first introduced in 2018 at the Geneva Motor Show. The E210 Corolla is paired with a transverse engine powered by petrol, flex-fuel, or a hybrid of petrol and electric. Developed under the lead of chief engineer Yasushi Ueda, it is the first Corolla to be built on the Toyota New Global Architecture (GA-C) platform shared with the fourth-generation Prius and C-HR. With the GA-C platform, the base of the front windscreen was lowered by , the overall height of the dashboard was reduced for styling reasons and improving visibility. The seats are lowered by to maintain the same head clearance as the previous generation.
, the twelfth-generation Corolla was the best-selling passenger vehicle in the world with a 1.6% global market share.
Body styles
Hatchback
The twelfth generation Corolla Hatchback was unveiled as a pre-production model in early March 2018 at the 88th Geneva Motor Show and as a production model on 28 March 2018 at the New York International Auto Show in hatchback body style.
The vehicle was initially branded as the Auris, a nameplate Toyota used historically for Corolla hatchbacks, but had subsequently been phased out. The Auris nameplate was discontinued across Europe in January 2019 and in Taiwan in July 2020. In Japan and in Taiwan (since July 2020), the hatchback is marketed as the Corolla Sport; in other regions it is simply called the Corolla hatchback.
Depending on the country, power for the Corolla hatchback comes from the 1.2-litre 8NR-FTS turbocharged petrol, the 1.8-litre 2ZR-FXE hybrid petrol, the 2.0-litre M20A-FKS Dynamic Force petrol or the 2.0-litre M20A-FXS Dynamic Force hybrid petrol engine.
The Corolla Hatchback is produced in the Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota, Aichi, Japan, and in Toyota Manufacturing UK in Burnaston, United Kingdom for the European market.
Saloon The saloon model was unveiled simultaneously between 15 and 16 November 2018 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States, and in China at the 2018 Guangzhou International Motor Show. This is sold in two versions which are referred to internally as Prestige and Sporty.
Prestige
The "Prestige" model is sold in China, Taiwan, Europe, Middle East, Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. This uses a different front fascia, which is more similar to the XV70 series Camry, conceived based on a research that customers in these markets prefer a more "prestigious" look for the saloon. The first "Prestige" model saloon rolled off the assembly line at the Sakarya plant in Turkey on 28 January 2019. The "Prestige" model was launched in Turkey on 13 February 2019 and sales began the following day.
The "Prestige" model has been available in certain European countries since March 2019. While there are several engine choices for the Hatchback and Touring Sports, the sole powertrain for the European Corolla saloon is the 1.8-litre hybrid paired with CVT.
In Taiwan and Southeast Asia, the "Prestige" model saloon is sold as the Corolla Altis. In Morocco, it is marketed as the Corolla Prestige. It was launched in Taiwan on 27 March 2019, in Thailand on 3 September 2019, in the Philippines on 9 September 2019, in Indonesia on 12 September 2019, in Malaysia on 9 October 2019, in Brunei on 2 January 2020 and in Singapore on 9 January 2020 at the Singapore Motorshow.
Sporty
The "Sporty" model uses a similar front fascia to the hatchback and estate versions. This version is sold in North America, Japan, Australia, South Africa, China (as the Levin ()), and other countries.
The "Sporty" model was launched in Japan on 17 September 2019 with a smaller footprint than its international counterpart.
Depending on the countries, power for the Corolla saloon (E210) comes from a choice of the 1.2-litre 8NR-FTS turbo petrol, 1.8-litre petrol 2ZR-FE, 1.8-litre 2XR-FXE hybrid petrol, or 2.0-litre petrol M20A-FKS.
Estate
The estate or station wagon variation of the Corolla was unveiled at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. The vehicle is branded as the Corolla Touring Sports in most markets, and the Corolla Touring in Japan. The vehicle is not available in American, Australian and Asian (except for Japan) markets including the Chinese market. All components and other elements of the Corolla Touring Sports behind the B-pillar were completely developed in Europe as it is the primary market for the model.
Depending on the country, power for the Corolla Touring Sports comes from the 1.2-litre 8NR-FTS turbocharged petrol engine, the 1.8-litre 2ZR-FAE naturally aspirated petrol engine, the 1.8-litre 2ZR-FXE hybrid petrol engine, or the 2.0-litre M20A-FXS hybrid petrol engine.
Toyota introduced the Corolla Trek version of estate car at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, with a raised suspension, a roof rack and additional body protection.
Estate models are produced in Toyota Manufacturing UK in Burnaston, United Kingdom for the European market, and in the Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota, Aichi, Japan for the smaller Japanese-market model.
Markets
Japan The Corolla hatchback is sold in Japan as the Corolla Sport, which was launched on 27 June 2018. It is sold exclusively at Toyota Corolla Store dealerships. Motive power for the Japanese Corolla Sport comes from the 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine or 1.8-litre Hybrid engine. Trim levels are the base G"X", the mid-level G and the fully loaded G"Z". Intelligent manual transmission is only for the cars with smaller displacement engine. The 1.2-litre cars are also offered with Full-Time 4WD paired with CVT-i. The 2WD G"Z" can be ordered with Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS) system and Drive Mode Select with Eco, Comfort, Normal, Sport S and Sport S+ modes.
Both the Corolla saloon and Corolla Touring were launched in Japan on 17 September 2019. It is shorter in length by and narrower by than the global Corolla models. They both share the same wheelbase as the Corolla hatchback (Sport in Japan), contrary to the global Corolla. As the result, both the Japanese market Corolla saloon and Corolla Touring have a minimum turning radius of . The bonnet panel, door windows, rear windscreen, doors, bumpers, and the roof stamping had to be redesigned for the Japanese model. The angle of the door mirrors was readjusted to fold closer to the body in order to fit in a narrow garage or parking space. The Japanese market Touring uses the same front fascia as the "Sporty" saloon.
Trim levels for the Japanese market Corolla saloon and Touring are the base G-X, the mid-level S and the fully loaded W×B. Powertrain options are the 1.8-litre petrol engine with CVT (for all trim levels), 1.8-litre Hybrid engine with either 2WD or E-Four (for all trim levels) and 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine with manual transmission (for W×B trim only).
In May 2020, the "2000 Limited" variant of the Touring was released. It is powered by the 2.0-litre M20A-FKS engine (the first 2.0-litre engine option for the Japanese market Corolla) paired with a CVT with ten-speed simulated gear, and had a limited production of 500 units. The "Active Ride" variant with the same engine and production units was released in April 2021.
Excluding the Corolla Rumion, the E210 series of the Corolla is the first to be sold in the Japanese market in which the exterior width ( for the saloon and estate car, and for the hatchback) exceeds Japanese government regulations concerning small size passenger vehicles (class five) exterior dimensions and engine displacement.
Brazil The E210 Corolla saloon was launched in September 2019, and included an Altis trim with the first version of a flex-fuel hybrid powered by a 1.8-litre Atkinson engine. All the other trims, GLi, XEi and Altis, are powered by a 2.0-litre M20A-FKB flex-fuel engine. The Corolla is produced in the Indaiatuba, São Paulo plant, and initially only 5% of production was devoted to the Altis flex-fuel hybrid with the hybrid powertrain being imported from Japan. However, by February 2020, and despite production constraints, sales of the Corolla Altis flex-fuel hybrid reached almost 25% sales of the country's entire Corolla line-up. In 2021, Toyota launched the GR-S version in the Brazilian market, with the same design as the Taiwanese Corolla Altis GR Sport, powered by the 2.0-litre M20A-FKB engine.
China For the mainland China market, excluding Hong Kong and Macao, the E210 series Corolla saloon is available in two different styles. The "Prestige" Corolla is produced and sold by FAW Toyota, whereas the "Sporty" model called Levin is produced and sold by GAC Toyota. Both the Corolla and the Levin are offered as regular petrol, Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid versions. Both were released in China on 8 August 2019.
The hybrid versions of Corolla and Levin are sold with additional "Shuāngqíng" () name to differentiate from the petrol versions. The Levin with 1.2-litre 9NR-FTS petrol engine is named "185T", as it produces of maximum torque.
The Corolla is offered in Pioneer, Elite, Deluxe, Sport, and Ultimate trim levels. Trim levels for the Levin are Progressive, Deluxe, Sports, Technology, and Premium. The Sports trim has the same front bumper design as the North American Corolla SE/XSE models, while the others have the same front bumper design as the regular "Sporty" Corolla.
In November 2020, the long-wheelbase derivatives were revealed as the Allion (, originally "傲澜" (); the change was made because the latter name may sound offensive to Teochew dialect speakers) and the Levin GT (). The Allion is based on the "Prestige" Corolla with several changes to the front fascia and manufactured by FAW Toyota, while the Levin GT is based on the "Sporty" Corolla and manufactured by GAC Toyota. The wheelbase is stretched to or longer than the standard Corolla/Levin, while its body length is stretched to . It is an attempt to occupy a popular segment between the Corolla and the Camry, which is called "A+ class sedan" segment in China.
In January 2021, the 1.5-litre M15B-FKS and M15C-FKS engine options were added.
Available powertrain options include: 1.2 L 9NR-FTS straight four-cylinder (I4) turbocharged petrol engine, , (regular models, with CVT) 1.5 L M15B-FKS straight three-cylinder (I3) petrol engine 1.5 L M15C-FKS straight three-cylinder (I3) petrol engine (Levin) 1.8 L 8ZR-FXE straight four-cylinder (I4) petrol engine with Hybrid Synergy Drive system, , (hybrid models, with eCVT) 2.0 L M20C-FKS straight four-cylinder (I4) petrol engine, , (Levin GT, with CVT) 2.0 L M20E-FKS straight four-cylinder (I4) petrol engine, , (Allion, with CVT)
Europe The twelfth-generation Corolla (E210) for the European market was unveiled at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. The hatchback and estate (Touring Sports) variants were later revealed at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. Production of the European market Corolla hatchback began on 14 January 2019. Sales began in the UK in February 2019 and across Europe in March 2019.
Initially the new model was due to be marketed as the Auris (third generation), based on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform. In January 2019, shortly after production, the Auris name was discontinued, with the production model reverting back to the Corolla for the European market after a 12-year hiatus.
The hatchback and estate (Touring Sports) variants are built at the Toyota Burnaston factory in the UK.