Did Nihon scoop the next Corolla?
We're well aware that Toyota is hard at work on new "world car" that may be for sale domestically and abroad. Whether or not the images we've previously shown are that particular vehicle or the new Corolla is what's really important. So the folks over at Nihon Car & Bike have been relentlessly shoveling photos from Japanese cars mags into their scanner so we here in the States can speculate to our hearts content.
Japan-only, DRIVER magazine had a full four-page spread on a new Toyota called the "Orius" and judging from previous renderings, it shares a striking resemblance to what has been assumed to be the next-gen Corolla. The family likeness is an obvious nod to its larger and smaller siblings, the Camry and Yaris, with a blunt, curvaceous nose, flamey-surfaced head/taillights and wholey-unoffensive side panels.
Although the world car won't make it to our shores and there are a variety of other Corollas available throughout the globe, this does give us a glimpse as to what the future holds for one of the strongest selling compacts on the market.
The full mag scans are available after the jump.
[Source: Nihon Car & Bike]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Steve S 9:47AM (9/05/2006)
Can anyone say Mazda 3 Rip-off?
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electro^plankton 9:51AM (9/05/2006)
"Can anyone say Mazda 3 Rip-off?"
Are you smokin something? If you think that looks like a Mazda 3, I want to know where you're gettin' your chronic from because I really want some of it.
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AnonymousInsights 10:00AM (9/05/2006)
Try Suzuki SX 4 rip-off complete with front A-Pillar ala Pontiac TranSport window. This will never compete with the new Civic on looks. The Yaris' big-brother proves that ugly runs in the family. Re-engineer this gene, Toyota!
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Sebastian S. 10:05AM (9/05/2006)
If that is the new Corolla, then the Honda Civic will dominate!!
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Richard Warren 11:48AM (9/05/2006)
Another,looks like every other car in the Toyota line clone, simply insert more air to blow it up to a bigger size, let some out for smaller.
Ugly and pathetic.
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Andy 12:08PM (9/05/2006)
Bastard child of Scion TC and Yaris. It's face is pure ugly but the interior seems nice. Fix the face and bring the 5 door and it could compete.
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Rob 11:03AM (9/05/2006)
a previous autoblog post has this same car as supposedly the "next corolla!!" but as you can tell here its a "Netz" which is sold in japan: (http://www.toyota.co.jp/netz/top.html).
this car is way too small to be the next corolla. way to jump to conclusions, guys.
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djSyndrome 11:07AM (9/05/2006)
"this car is way too small to be the next corolla. way to jump to conclusions, guys."
Not only that, but Corollas in Japan have always had 'Corolla' in the name, even if it was known as something else ("Corolla Sprinter", "Corolla Spacio", etc.)
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julian 11:32AM (9/05/2006)
re: #5 and #6
doesn't look too small for me, unless your talking about the u version. seems a suitable size for the european market.
nevertheless, it's still plain and ugly, like all corollas before it and other toyotas in general.
the look might look ok and kinda cute on the yaris, but not on this.
but then again, it's only now that the civic has ever looked particularly exciting, but that's the euro version i'm talking about, as the us one is way too dull and ugly
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Bob 11:48AM (9/05/2006)
I don't think it's too bad. I don't think it's the new Corolla, though. I wonder how big this thing is. It's certainly more attractive than the Yaris, but then that's not saying much.
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Aki 1:19PM (9/05/2006)
The article clearly says it's the five-door variant based on the new Corolla. So while it can conceivably be sold in UK as the Corolla, there's no way that that car would be sold here. The new Corolla will probably look nothing like that on the exterior--though it'd be nice if it adopted that interior.
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Bonita 2:00PM (9/05/2006)
Can you say, FUGLY?
Really, now, if this is the best-looking design that tomorrow's #1 automaker can come up with for The World's Best-Selling Car . . .
Honda Civic will rule this segment again.
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Drewboy 2:12PM (9/05/2006)
Its not bad, I love 5-door cars like that because they're so practical. However, I don't like the appearance of the front end. I like to walk into my garage and smile at the cars looking back. I wouldn't frown at this one but I wouldn't smile either, unless it returns rediculously good gas mileage.
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john 2:30PM (9/05/2006)
Snore.
Giive me a European small car any day.
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kevin 2:32PM (9/05/2006)
Does nobody else see the VW Golf's C-Pillar in there? Geez. And the A-pillar is a rip off of the Golf Plus.
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sp 2:50PM (9/05/2006)
lol, car is almost same as 2001 5 door corolla, except for front lights and back lights. So if you see Mazda or SX4 or VW in there, it is because they copied 2001 Corolla.
:-).
lol.
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Dave 10:01PM (9/05/2006)
It's really hard to tell if it's too small but I think this may be the next Corolla. It's not smaller than the Yaris and it would seem illogical to slot a car between small and eenie meenie. The console is interesting but overall it's designed for the manufacture's ease of production and not for the consumer's sense of aesthetics. (in otherwords it's really bland).
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hate the front end 4:03PM (9/05/2006)
Wow, another one of those ugly new-style Toyota front ends.
I guess Toyota had to do something to force people to buy the ES330 instead of the Camry.
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BOB 5:58PM (9/05/2006)
The writer does the readers a disservice by not making crystal clear that the US and Canada get a different Corolla.
The other countries can see the small difference in size between a car like the one shown and the Yaris, but we would see it as duplication. Moreover, the US made Corolla can grow a bit more (that costs beans) to look like more value to our consumers, as long as the styling is young-leaning. The Yaris and the Scions are below it, the Camry has a solid middle class look, so the Corolla is best positioned as "youthful, but not just for the young".(The present car is a Grandpa look, which everyone sees as an error.)
If the gas story continues to worsen, perhaps we will get one of the small ones, as well.
By the way, all the articles on the Yaris as "bringing us the European car to replace the Echo" were straight out of Toyota publicity releases. The Echo was the North American name for the previous Yaris, a name, I guess, which seemed too exotic back then.
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BOB 6:01PM (9/05/2006)
.......and for my Canadian friends, I should have allowed that they often get a few models of Japanese and Korean cars that don't come south. So far, their economy and income level is still below ours. (tempted to insert a political comment about the present US Government here, but don't want to start something.)
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