2019 Toyota Corolla detailed for Australia

Ahead of its release in August, the 2019 Toyota Corolla has been detailed for Australia. Originally revealed at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, the next generation of Corolla hatchback now sits on Toyota’s TNGA platform, and will arrive with a new range of powerplants and equipment.

Whilst local pricing and specifications haven’t been confirmed just yet, Toyota Australia has confirmed that the new Corolla will be priced not too far from the current model, despite a big boost in standard equipment. The current model is priced from $20,190 plus on-road costs.

Toyota’s vice president sales and marketing Sean Hanley said the new Corolla is a premium, high-quality hatch focused on performance and technology.

“Corolla will remain very competitive and affordable in the Australian market – and we expect it to continue as Australia’s best-selling car, a position it has held for each of the past five years,” Mr Hanley said.

“With its sharp design, increased safety, new petrol engine and transmissions, improved hybrid drive, larger interior and great new features, Corolla will continue to be the car of choice for a broad cross-section of the motoring public,” he said.

The biggest news with the 2019 Toyota Corolla is not that it sits on TNGA, but instead that the 1.8-litre petrol engine that has served in Corollas for more than 20 years will finally be retired. Instead, a new 2.0-litre direct injection four-cylinder petrol engine from Toyota’s Dynamic Force family will be standard across the range, with either a six-speed manual or a new 10-speed CVT. Australian outputs have been confirmed as 125kW of power and 200Nm of torque – more than competitive with cars such as the Hyundai i30 and Mazda 3.

Toyota Australia has also confirmed that the Corolla Hybrid will also be sold down under again, but this time in all specifications of the model range – the previous Corolla Hybrid was available in one (high-end) specification. The new Corolla Hybrid will use the same 1.8-litre petrol engine and battery pack combination as the current model with improved fuel efficiency that will earn it a combined fuel rating of under 4L/100km, according to the company.

Toyota Australia has also confirmed some of the details regarding the 2019 Toyota Corolla’s equipment list. All models will be crucially equipped with autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with forward collision warning and pedestrian detection, as well as LED lighting, road sign assist, automatic high beam headlights, lane tracing assist, radar cruise control, lane departure alert with steering assist and a reversing camera.

Other available equipment will also include 18-inch alloy wheels, an 8.0-inch infotainment system with inbuilt satellite navigation, dual-zone climate control, an eight-speaker JBL sound system, keyless entry and start, a 7.0-inch colour multi-information display ahead of the driver, a colour heads-up display and wireless phone charging.

Toyota has also detailed the 2019 Corolla’s interior for the first time, which wasn’t revealed with the exterior at Geneva 2018. The dashboard layout is significantly more modern than the blocky dashboard used in the current model, and is equipped with technologies such as wireless phone charging, a colour heads up display and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring – though Australia isn’t receiving CarPlay just yet.

The 2019 Toyota Corolla’s dashboard also appears to be much higher quality than before, with stitched dashboard panels, faux leather inserts and switchgear taken from the new Camry – itself a high quality car. Dimensionally, the 2019 Toyota Corolla is longer in length, whilst it’s also wider and less tall than the car it replaces, though Toyota Australia is yet to give precise figures. The bootspace has also grown to around 350-litres – a marked improvement on the current model’s 280-litres.

The 2019 Toyota Corolla will go on sale in Australia in August. Stay tuned to Chasing Cars for news and reviews regarding the Toyota range.