9 Aug 2018
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Toyota’s 12th-generation Corolla hatchback entered showrooms in August 2018, marking a full-scale overhaul for Australia’s top-selling small car in all major areas including exterior aesthetics, interior design, powertrain, chassis and safety technology.
This not only brought it well up to date with its major rivals, Toyota was also able to claim class-first positioning with the full suite of safety features fitted standard across the range.
This included active cruise control, pre-collision braking, lane-departure warning (including steering assist), automatic high beam, a speed-limit recognition system (a first for Toyota in Australia) and autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection.
The new generation brought a more powerful and economical 125kW/200Nm 2.0-litre petrol engine as the mainstay of the range, combined with a smart six-speed manual with rev-matching on downshifts and a newly developed continuously variable automatic transmission.
The 1.8-litre hybrid powertrain was also modified, and, most notably, became available for the first time across the full range – not just as a single mid-to-high-series variant.
Corolla XII was the third model after Camry, Prius and C-HR to be built on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) that is said to deliver a lower centre of gravity, improved front-to-rear weight balance and significantly higher body rigidity. This also saw it usher in a new multi-link rear suspension system for improved driving performance.
