Toyota Corolla News

Toyota’s new-gen Corolla Cross will be here in less than two years and it’ll look exactly like a baby RAV4, according to the almost-always-right Japanese motoring publication Best Car.Sure, Toyota has only just given the current Corolla Cross an update with a redesigned grille and upgraded cabin features, but Japan’s Best Car magazines’s latest issue reveals the totally new next-gen will arrive in 2028 and look just like it’s big sister - the RAV4.Dubbed "Baby RAV4" by Best Car, it adopts the new RAV4’s C-shaped LED headlight and daytime running light styling and grille treatment along with other exterior design elements.The magazine’s front page shows an artist's impression of the Corolla Cross looking a bit sleeker than the taller and larger RAV4 but the resemblance is striking — from the grille, which varies depending on the grade, to the tough looking black moulded wheel guards and sloping rear pillar.Best Car got word from those in the know that the new Corolla Cross will be slightly longer and wider. Currently the little SUV is just 4460mm long, 1825mm wide and 1620mm tall, or about the same size as rivals like the GWM Haval Jolion or Kia Seltos. Best Car says the next-gen Corolla Cross will be 4650mm long and 1850mm wide tall, but a smidge shorter in height at 1600mm. These new dimensions will give the Corolla Cross a sleeker, beefier, more planted look, and apart from having more visual appeal could help handling and dynamics, but what would it do to headroom inside?Best Car also hears the next-gen Corolla Cross GR Sport will have a new 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a plug-in hybrid system and share the same suspension as the new Corolla GR Sport with front struts and rear double wishbones.All new-gen variants of the new Corolla Cross will also use an upgraded version of the TNGA-C platform, with a sixth-generation hybrid system.The Corolla Cross is one of Toyota's best-selling models with 1687 sold in march this year, but that’s not enough to put it ahead of cheaper rivals such as the GWM Haval Jolion, Chery Tiggo 4 or Hyundai Kona. A new sportier look for the Corolla Cross and more fuel efficient powertrains would possibly go a long way to closing the sales gap.So when can we expect to see the new gen Corolla Cross in real life? Well Best Car reckons it will come not long after the arrival of the next-gen Corolla which we might see in late 2027. Best bet is 2028 and of course, we’ll only truly start to know what it looks like when Toyota starts testing it out in the wild.

Australia is facing a used-car market black hole.With the number of affordable new small-car options shrinking annually due to more-expensive SUVs, so too will be the number of affordable used small-car options.Unless there is a big uptick in new small-car production, stocks will continue to contract, putting significant upward pressure on used-car prices.We’re already seeing this affordability catastrophe unfold. And the numbers tell a sobering story.The great small-car cullSince 2016, Australia has gone from having over 40 new light and small car options under $30,000 (in today’s money), to just 10 right now – and falling. And even if you add the proliferation of cheap new small SUVs (mostly from China), that only adds another 10. That’s a 50 per cent drop right there.This means that there will be far fewer affordable used smaller cars to go around as we head towards the 2030s and beyond.Or, in other words, Australia will soon run very low on affordable, low-mileage second-hand small cars under 10 years old, adding substantially to the cost-of-living pressures for many people who cannot or won't buy new.Since 2020, we’re already seen Toyota, Ford and Honda drop their sub-$20,000 models, namely the (non-hybrid) Yaris, Fiesta and Jazz hatchbacks respectively, creating a void filled by new Chinese brands MG, GWM and BYD.In Ford’s case, its cheapest new passenger vehicle in 2026 is the Everest Ambiente 4WD SUV from $58,990 (before on-road costs), having also abandoned the Puma and Focus, as well as the larger Mondeo, Escape and Endura, since the start of this decade.Why the small-car cull? A long-term sales slide against SUVs, coupled with the massive investment required in electric vehicles (EVs) to meet coming legislated zero-emissions targets, stalled decades of on-going small-car development and evolution.Some industry analysts even believe that the middle of last decade was the era of “peak small-car”, as defined the highly-successful Volkswagen Mk7 Golf – a model widely considered superior to its 2020 Mk8 successor.It’s been reported that VW cancelled scores of new-model projects in the aftermath of 2015’s Dieselgate emissions-cheating scandal, including shelving an advanced redesign of the Golf in favour of today’s reskin, pivoting instead to EVs to help atone for the disaster.Others seem to have followed suit. In fact, if you look at today’s remaining small cars, most sit on architectures that date back to last decade.The Mazda 3’s debuted in 2013; the Peugeot 308 in 2014; Subaru Impreza and Honda Civic in 2016; the Hyundai i30 in 2017; Toyota Corolla in 2018; and Kia K4 in 2020.Defying depreciationIncredibly, some high-quality used small cars with a few years under their belts are holding their value to an almost comical degree, especially with fewer than 100,000km.A 2016 Mazda 2 auto from $16,990 when new is still worth at least $13,000 today – and some lower-mileage examples match the original price. Likewise, a 2018 Honda Civic VTi from $22,390 is still a $20,000-plus proposition.But nothing beats the Toyota hybrid phenomenon.A 2019 Corolla Hybrid that new started from $25,870 is likely to cost upwards of $24,000 today, with some even nudging $30,000 in the right colour and specification.And a 2021 Yaris SX hybrid from $27,020 new… is still very nearly that amount today at its lowest point, even with 70,000km on the clock, meaning owners could be making a profit after all these years. Great news for them. Bad news for used-car buyers today.Your cheap choicesThe only quality, reliable and economical used small cars currently priced in the $10,000 to $15,000 bracket are now mostly older (pre-2015), higher-mileage (150,000km-plus) or ex-repairable write-offs (including flood/hail damaged cars, since fixed). Do not risk buying the latter.Otherwise, Australian used small-car buyers must roll the dice on niche European brands with (albeit at-times unfounded) reputations for expensive maintenance costs, orphaned Holdens like the (ex-Opel) Astra or newer Chinese small cars with below-par safety and/or driving dynamics, like a pre-2024, previous-generation MG 3.Unfortunately, with spiking fuel prices, hybrids are completely out of the question under $15,000 unless it’s a 15-year-old-plus Toyota or Honda with moon-shot mileages and/or ex-ride-share taxis.Finding a cheap used SUV alternativeSo, it is logical to conclude that, while the number of new small car options is declining, there must be more small SUV choices, right?Not for budget buyers in the sub-$15,000 bracket, sadly.Quality, second-hand smaller SUVs and crossovers are also pricing themselves out of reach for lower-income groups and younger drivers seeking inexpensive yet reliable vehicles.Consider the case of a seven-year-old Mazda CX-3 or Suzuki Vitara 1.6 with reasonably-low mileage (under 100,000km).These current-shape models have been chosen as two of the better and more-reputable small SUVs on offer, due to their uncomplicated non-turbo engines and robust torque-converter automatics, instead of the usually problematic continuously variable transmission (CVT) or dual-clutch transmission (DCT) found in most alternatives.A 2019 CX-3 auto that cost $23,790 new (which is about $30,000 adjusted for inflation today) currently retails for between $20,000 and $25,000 depending on condition. Again, depreciation-defying.Likewise, a 2019 Vitara 1.6L 2WD that cost $24,490 new (about $32,500 in 2026 money) is still commanding between $19,000 and $25,000 today if well-maintained. We’re talking about seven-year-old models here.Little wonder consumers are forced into newer brands from China with long warranties and shiny touchscreens but unproven long-term reliability, resale and access to genuine spare parts/labour.The bottom line is that a generation of consumers seeking a cheap and economical used small car will be left wanting.At 18, Baby Boomers had their decade-old Datsun 1600s and Volkswagen Beetles; Gen X its Ford Lasers and Holden Geminis; and Millennials their Hyundai Excels and Mazda 323s to rely upon.What will next-gen used-car buyers be able to afford?

Fuel prices in Australia are soaring, meaning fuel efficiency in vehicles is a more important consideration than ever. Hybrid cars offer the potential for superior fuel efficiency compared to internal combustion power without the big price premium if fully electric or plug-in hybrid options. This makes them an increasingly attractive option for buyers given the current global climate. Hybrid sales are already booming in Australia, but will increases in fuel prices accelerate the shift away from pure internal combustion cars? NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said that while hybrid sales are increasing, an even swifter transition is less than clear. “If you’re driving a standard vehicle with a 55-litre tank, compared to what we were paying before the war began to now, it’s a $45 increase on one tank of petrol. That applies regardless of whether it’s hybrid or petrol,” Khoury said. “Historically speaking, looking at what happens after an oil shock, it certainly opens up their consideration. “No doubt that if this crisis continues and these prices hang around for weeks or months, Australians will look at those alternatives more seriously.” Below is a comparison between popular petrol and hybrid choices in each segment to see how they stack up in a changing fuel context. Fuel cost has been calculated using current data from the New South Wales’ government’s average fuel price for unleaded 95 petrol and diesel. Toyota’s Corolla hybrid hatch offers superior fuel efficiency and driving range compared to the Kia K4 petrol model. The Corolla is also cheaper to fill up with fuel thanks to its smaller tank and offers a substantially bigger driving range. The Kia Seltos is a petrol-only variant, but despite its bigger fuel tank, it has less driving range than the Toyota Corolla Cross, courtesy of the hybrid powertrain. The bigger fuel tank means the Seltos is also more expensive to fill up. The mid-size CX-5 has a non-turbo charged petrol engine, which sees it offer an impressive estimated driving range of more than 800km, but once again the Toyota competitor’s fuel efficiency wins out in the RAV4 hybrid. The Toyota Kluger continues the Japanese juggernaut’s fuel efficient theme, with a hybrid set-up offering a driving range of more than 1122km, which is significantly more than the MQ QS, despite both cars costing a similar amount to fill up at the bowser. Utes are some of the worst affected by the fuel price increase as many of them are powered using diesel engines, with diesel fuel rising more than petrol. It has now risen to well beyond the $2.60 mark per litre. The BYD Shark’s plug-in hybrid set-up uses petrol, which makes it an affordable option, given the price of diesel. It should be noted that the Shark 6’s fuel efficiency is significantly reduced when the battery is not charged. It’s a similar story for the GWM Cannon Alpha, which should be noted is no longer on sale, but remains one of limited plug-less hybrid utes in Australia. 

A combination of increasing component costs, ever-higher safety and emissions requirements as well as the need for new-generation tech to match fast-moving competitors has driven the domestic entry price for Toyota’s Corolla close to 60 per cent higher over the last decade.According to data from the Statistics Bureau of Japan (SBJ) as originally reported by Nikkei Asia the price of an entry-grade Corolla sat at ¥2.28 million yen (~$20,600) in 2025, up from ¥1.45 million (~$16,100*) in 2015. *Based on an average 2015 Yen/AUD exchange rate.For reference, in Australia a base Toyota Corolla Ascent auto cost $21,790, before on-road costs, in 2015. And in 2025 the entry-level Corolla Ascent Sport was $29,610, BOC, an increase of just over 35 per cent.As the statistical arm of the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the SBJ not only manages the country’s population census but tracks thousands of day-to-day consumer costs - from school fees and railway fares to baby clothes and soy sauce.A range of factors, including inflationary pressure driving up component supplier costs, increased standard safety requirements and tightening fuel economy and emissions legislation has driven the price rise.In recent years, emerging global competitors, particularly from China, have also placed greater emphasis on driver assist tech and multimedia functions driving the need for additional cameras, radars, microchips and more.Over the same 2015-2025 period, average Japanese worker income increased around 10 per cent and in early 2024 the Bank of Japan’s policy interest rate rose for the first time since 2007 and has been gradually rising since).Much of Japan’s car finance business is underpinned by residual loans (similar to a finance lease) at low interest rates and the rising cost of money is pushing car ownership out of reach for many potential buyers.SBJ data show even ‘kei’ city cars, the production of which is shaped by government incentives to provide low-price, fuel- and space-efficient new vehicle options to help keep the population mobile and the domestic car manufacturing business humming, have risen steeply in price.Specifically, 33 per cent from an average entry-price of ¥1.18 million yen in 2015 to 1.76 million yen (~$15,900) in 2025.And in heavily built-up areas car-sharing is an increasingly popular kei car alternative; a contributor to Japanese domestic market new-vehicle sales being down 10 per cent in 2025 compared to 2015.Evolving tastes have impacted relative pricing as Japanese consumers lean more towards full-size SUVs and people movers than compact cars.Prices of ‘Compact Passenger Cars’ increased 31 per cent to ¥2.39 million (~$21,500), while ‘Full-sized Passenger Cars’ rose 24 per cent to ¥3.72 million (~$33,500).At the same time, sales of full-sized passenger vehicles were up 30 per cent in 2025 compared to 2015, while compact passenger cars softened by 40 per cent.

Cathy, Thorpey, Kylie and Nikki had just shown the world that Australia can hold its own in sports and culture, we’d given quite a few of our guns away, the Millenial Bug wasn’t such a concern anymore… and three sedans dominated Aussie roads.A quarter of a century ago, the year 2000 was just in the rear-view, and the sales charts looked very different to today.What better time than 25 years later to look back at the cars and brands Australians were heading to the showroom for?Not only were there fewer utes and SUVs being sold, they didn’t even make up a third of the new vehicle sales in the country combined that year. Utes and SUVs were lumped together in the same section of the VFACTS report (the sales figures industry stakeholders, pundits and media receive each month) alongside heavy trucks.Only 8413 new Toyota RAV4s were sold, making the Daewoo Lanos (9029 sales) more popular that year. Compare that to 2025, when the RAV4 ranked second in sales for the year with a whopping 51,947 units, only topped by the Ranger (56,555).Speaking of which, how did our now-favourite utes fare in 2000? The Ford Courier, the Ranger’s predecessor, sold just 6769 units, while the HiLux managed to hop into the top 10 with 21,509 sales. Still somewhat short of its 51,297 in 2025.To be fair, if you’d asked someone if they were buying a Ford ute, the Courier wouldn’t have been the first thing to come to mind. Ford sold 13,698 Falcon utes in the year 2000, putting it well ahead of its Commodore rival’s 6361.That can be explained easily, Holden didn't build a new ute for the VT generation Commodore of the late-’90s, instead continuing to sell the VS ute alongside the VT sedan.The near-new AU Falcon ute (released in mid-1999) had the car-based ute market covered for the turn of the century.Those two now-gone badges, along with the enduring Toyota Camry and the impressive Mitsubishi Magna, were impossible to avoid on Aussie roads then, with the Commodore, Falcon, Camry and Magna being first, second, third and fifth (thanks to the Corolla in fourth) most popular cars in the country in 2000.Between them they contributed to the total 198,766 large passenger cars sold in 2000, which made up 35.9 per cent of the year’s new vehicle sales. In 2025, large passenger cars made up just 2285 sales, or 0.2 per cent of the market.Small cars made up the other major chunk of sales back in 2000, with 154,050 sales being 27.8 per cent of the market. They were 72,222 sales and 6.0 per cent of last year’s market share.The aforementioned Daewoo was in the top 10 brands (just) in terms of sales for the year 2000, but was the only brand in that list that no longer exists.A scroll through the list shows other long-gone names like Daihatsu, Saab and Proton, and one not-so-long-gone name — Citroen.Daewoo Nubira? Daihatsu Sirion? Even the Proton Satria? These forgotten cars all sold in the thousands back then.Giants like Kia and Hyundai have come a long way, too. The brands once known for the Excel or Accent, plus the Kia Rio in its most ‘cheap and cheerful’ phase (RIP) are now global powerhouses with new technology and reliability commonly in the same sentence as their badge names. Hyundai, at least, was still a top-10 player back then.Below, there are tables with the most popular models and brands from the year 2000 and the figures we gleaned from the data — note the badge names have been consolidated so that cars with Commodore (for example) includes all body types.Top 10 cars sold in Australia in 2000Top 10 cars brands in Australia in 2000  

The current Toyota Corolla is almost done for, it is eight years old now and a new version is just around the corner.Toyota previewed the next-generation small car at the 2025 Tokyo Mobility Show, with a head-turning concept car.A production version will feature watered down looks from the edgy and wild looking concept — as is the case with most concept to production transitions.New digital renders from KDesign AG on Instagram shows the next-gen Corolla adopting the company’s hammerhead design with its distinct C-shaped headlights, wide mouth frill and pinched front end.There aren't many concrete details on the new Corolla, but we know there will be something for everyone.It will be the new people’s car, available with the option petrol hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and even hydrogen power in the future.Toyota is working on a new series of turbocharged petrol engines, which could be installed in the petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of the Corolla. These engines are supposed to be high output units that are compatible with carbon neutral fuels.The most obvious one would be the 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit, with the 2.0-litre motor rumoured to make up to 300kW when paired with hybrid power.The final look isn’t known but it will likely follow a similar design path as the Camry and C-HR, which is shown in the digital renders.The renders show the Corolla in a sedan shape, but it has a softer shaped rear end with the sloping rear roofline better integrated into the boot, giving it more of a liftback than sedan appeal.This new look also ties into recent images of a new Corolla-sized sedan in China.There is a good chance the Chinese version is different from the one we will see, as it is built by the company’s joint venture with FAW.It is not unusual for China to get unique looking vehicles compared to the rest of the world.Expect to learn more about the next-gen Corolla over the course of 2026.

Toyota is aiming to have its range of vehicles be at least 30 per cent built from recycled materials by 2030, as new EU regulations are expected to target more than just tailpipe emissions in the next decade.Toyota is focusing on recycled metals, such as re-forged steel used from crushed or deconstructed vehicles as part of an extensive ‘circular economy’ push and to reduce waste.A strategy document shows various initiatives Toyota will be undertaking, which includes up to 25 per cent recycled plastics used in new vehicles by 2030, a declaration on the content of recycled metals (including steel, aluminium and magnesium) for its vehicles by 2028, and future designs will be easier to deconstruct when they reach end of life.The brand flags 19 parts including catalytic converters, bumpers, EV batteries and motors to be designed to be easily removed from scrap vehicles and deconstructed future range of vehicles.Part of this push is to comply with existing and incoming European regulations on materials use and recycling for cars. Regulations around end-of-life products require 25 per cent of plastics used in cars to be from recycled materials, while battery regulations require “recycled usage rate” targets for key materials like lithium, cobalt, nickel and lead.In total, Toyota is “aiming to achieve a recycled material rate in its vehicles sold in Japan and Europe of 30 per cent or more by 2030”. The 30 per cent figure is not by number of parts but by total weight of the vehicle.The report notes there are easier gains to be made toward this goal in the recycling of steel in order to reduce new raw materials used, plastics, meanwhile, are much more difficult to process due to the differences in materials used, and volatile components within them which make them expensive to re-process into new materials.Thanks to this new initiative, Toyota’s Gosei plastics manufacturing subsidiary has developed materials with a 50 per cent recycled plastic content and performance equivalent to newly-made plastics, which it says is a world-first. Examples of this material being used are in the glovebox and grille-backing material in the new Euro-market Camry.Other new Toyotas using recycled plastics include the incoming new-generation RAV4 and the Crown Sport SUV.As the majority of Toyota models sold in Australia are built in Japan, we can expect at least some of its more popular vehicles the RAV4, Corolla, and Camry to be made of this 30 per cent-by-weight recycled materials.While the goals seem to apply at a global level for the brand, it is unclear at this stage whether the targets for vehicles built in Europe and Japan will also apply to vehicles built in Thailand, like the ever-popular HiLux ute.Other brands will have to have similar targets for materials recycling in order to continue to sell vehicles in Europe, with regulators also expected to come after other non-exhaust particulate matter, like tyre waste and brake dust.As a result, many manufacturers are experimenting with re-introducing drum brakes, which capture waste, or using brake systems that heavily rely on regenerative braking via electric motors with back-up friction brakes contained in the motor assembly (inboard brakes), rather than discs on the wheel hub.One of the leaders in the sustainability space, Polestar, issues a sustainability report claiming its new Polestar 4 has the lowest lifecycle emissions in its entire range, despite it wielding a massive 100kWh battery pack. The brand says this is largely due to advances made in using recycled aluminium and steel in the car’s frame, as well as renewable energy power used in its factory and by suppliers.Nissan is also aiming for a 30 per cent recycled material target, while BMW is aiming for a 50 per cent recycled material content by 2030.

Toyota has spoken about its multi-pathway powertrain strategy for decades now and it will take a new step up with the new-generation Corolla.

Corolla range gets trimmed down.

Meet the new Toyota Corolla.