The Toyota dream begun in 1933 when Kiichiro Toyoda envisioned a small economic car as he set out to diversify his father’s weaving company – Toyoda Automatic Loom Works.
In 1936, Kiichiro built the first Toyota – the AA. Over the years, Toyota’s small economic car developed and became known as the Toyota Corolla in 1966. By 1974 it was a best seller, and five decades on, it’s becoming the bestselling car ever.
The Corolla has sold 44,1 million units in the last 50 years. This is a feat no other car maker has accomplished. The Corolla is seconded by the Ford F series with 40 million sales and the VW Golf with 33 million sales.
Although Toyota is renowned for its cars, it’s still a heavyweight in the textile industry where it stemmed from and still manufactures automatic looms and electric sewing machines. Toyoda Loom Works is now a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, the company it gave birth to.
The Corolla has been so successful it has become a sub-brand in its own, even shadowing its parent Toyota badge in some markets. The Corolla collection is very diverse and tailored according to its markets. Variations include Alex, Blade, Ceres, Fielder, Levin, Matrix, Rukus, Rumion, Run X, Seca, Spacio, Tercel and Verso.
The 2018 Toyota Corolla design is striking and bold, it was made to turn heads. This design theme is part of Toyota’s new styling language dubbed ‘keen look’ design. The front face is an aggressively sporty design depicting attitude. BI–led headlamps are designed to shine brighter while using less energy, the grill and headlamps are a smart, artistic blend. The rear is equally sharp and edgy. You can see Lexus design cues echoed throughout.
Moulded in the wind tunnel, the Corolla’s design is one of efficiency and optimal performance; it’s designed to cut through the wind with utmost ease and minimum booming (wind noise).
On the interior, the Corolla has no links to what we are familiar with from it; certainly a redefined interior with an upper market feel to it thanks to the extensive use of premium materials such as beautiful piano black accents around the large touch screen. It has a fluid dash design, making it feel open and luxurious.
The SofTex® leather seats are refined and neatly put together, providing a surface that is sensitive to the environment. The seats are water and stain resistant too, and the rear seats have a 60/40 split capability allowing the extension of trunk space, if need be.
Infotainment features includes a seven-inch multimedia touch screen, USB, Bluetooth, steering controls and multi information display.
Pressing the start button, I heard the familiar Corolla engine sound, very similar to older Corollas; this tells me Toyota maintains the Corollas basic engine configuration just like they do with the Land Cruiser. Our test Corolla is the C7 top spec in the line-up, powered by 1 798 cc, 1,8 dual vvt-i engine with a 140 HP/103 kW output resulting in a
173 Nm torque via an auto continuously variable transmission. It does 0 to 100 km/h in a decent nine seconds.
The 2018 Corolla comes with Toyota safety sense across all trim levels. This is a collection of driver assist features that help you remain alert throughout, also giving a sense of security while out on the road. This package includes pedestrian detection, lane departure alert and a reverse camera, amongst many others.
The Corolla didn’t chance its way into greatness, it has been the best all rounder throughout the ages. Economy, good looks, space, reliability, comfort, resale value, safety, part availability… The list goes on. It’s a legend because no other car scores as high in so many areas, automatically making it a favourite.
The writing is on the wall – 44+ million buyers can’t be wrong.
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