Toyota Corolla vs Mercedes-Benz C300

What's the difference?

Up until 2024 when its title was nabbed by the Tesla Model Y, the humble Toyota Corolla has been the world’s best-selling car for quite some time. 

A reputation for reliability, affordability, efficiency and in its current guise, being fun to drive, the Corolla has seen off all comers to retain the title of the most popular small car on Earth.

The current twelfth-generation Corolla is now seven years into its life cycle having landed in mid-2018. In that time scores of buyers have moved across into small SUVs, and the Corolla’s competitor set has shrunk dramatically as car brands pull out of the small passenger car segment.

But as we gear up for the next-gen Corolla, is the existing one still worth considering against some newer rivals? And should you look at this instead of a small SUV?

I lived with the mid-range Corolla SX hatchback for a week to find out.

Australia's relationship status with the Mercedes C-Class has long been… complicated.

Over 40 years and five generations, the German midsized luxury sedan has been a paragon of efficiency and safety on one hand, but on the other, well, the quality and ride comfort haven't lived up to brand expectations.

Now the completely redesigned version has landed in Australia, with shrunken S-Class limousine styling to take on not only the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Genesis G70, but rivals as disparate as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Tesla Model 3.

The question is? Is this latest, sixth-generation, new-from-the-ground-up C-Class good enough to take on all those and more? Let's find out.