The Toyota Corolla is the best selling car of all time. It earned this honor by being economical and reliable. Both qualities are great for choosing a commuter car, but are rarely used to describe a performance vehicle.
Turns out Toyota does have a little bit of soul for its everyday car. Premiering at the Tokyo Auto Salon was the Super GT300’s, and this is not your grandmother’s car. It’s powered by a 3.5l V6 engine that delivers 300hp, and weights a light 1100 kg (2420 lbs). It will make its official launch in the 2009 Super GT racing series.
The Corolla is the car that made Toyota a household name. For over forty years, Corolla has meant reliable transportation at an affordable price. The current generation is not breaking this winning formula, and its trying to add a little luxury into the affordable car mix.
The Corolla was first introduced as a small rear-drive subcompact in the late 1960s. In the 1970s the second generation was introduced, and it was the best selling import in the country. Last year, the now front-wheel drive Corolla became the best selling model in the world, with over 30 million sold. Toyota has released a new generation of the Corolla every four or five years, which has now lead up to this new tenth-generation 2009 Toyota Corolla. The new Corolla is slightly longer, lower and wider than the previous generation. It is available in five trims, base, LE, S, XLE, and XRS. Our Corolla XLE is powered by a 1.8 Liter 4 cylinder DOHC engine matted to an automatic 4-speed transmission. The starting price for the Corolla XLE is $17, 550. Our test vehicle is priced at $18,600, because it has the optional goodies including 6-disc CD changer and satellite radio.
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Toyota announced manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (MSRP) today for the all-new 2009 Corolla and Matrix, along with the 2008 FJ Cruiser Trail Teams Special Edition. The Corolla base MSRP will range from $15,250 to $19,950 while the Matrix will range from $16,190 to $21,850. MSRPs do not include a delivery, processing and handling fee of $660. Both models will begin arriving at dealerships next month.
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In Japan.
But, it may be a sign of things to come elsewhere.
The
Honda Fit has passed the
Toyota Corolla as the best-seller in Japan, with Fit sales increasing by more than 100% in November over the previous year level. To this point, the Corolla had been the top-seller in Japan for over a year. But, its sales dropped 10% last month.
Despite that, the Fit was the only Honda that cracked the top ten in Japanese domestic sales, with 8 of the other top spots taken by (..
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Next to the 2009 Corolla and Corolla Matrix, Toyota also unveiled the Corolla S3 at SEMA, a tuned version of the standard sedan.
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