Toyota Corolla

TOYOTA is planning big changes for its 10th-generation Corolla, now only days away from official reveal in Japan. However, Wheels can already show you the car via these shots taken from a Japanese catalogue. There's also a twist - the hatchback is to be distanced from the rest of the range. It's moving up to a more premium position, and, in some markets, it's also getting a different name: Auris. Aware of the great consumer recognition of the Corolla nameplate, Toyota Australia successfully resisted inclusion in the renaming strategy. The Auris name will be used in Japan, but when the car launches in Australia in the second quarter of next year, it will be a plain and simple Corolla hatchback. The reason for the invention of the Auris appellation is simple. Japan wants the new model to compete in the top end of the hatchback market, against models like Volkswagen's Golf. Its chances are improved if it's not called Corolla, so the thinking goes. Regardless of Toyota's lofty aspirations, the Auris shares a lot with the new-generation Corolla sedan. The hatch has the wheelbase that's a key dimension of Toyota's fresh front-drive, small- car architecture. The hatch body is naturally shorter, by 190mm. Width is 1760mm, similar to the wide-body, export version of the Corolla sedan.

None of the Auris' exterior sheet metal is shared with the Corolla sedan. The hatch's rounded, Euro look clearly borrows cues from the Yaris. Both three- and five-door versions of Auris will be built. Inside,-the cabin treatment features a long, designer-style centre console that's far racier than the new Corolla sedan's. Toyota will present a thinly disguised Auris as a 'concept' at the Paris show. Save for minor cosmetics, it'll be the real deal. The official launch in Japan is scheduled for late October.

The Japanese Auris will have two engines from launch. The 1.5-litre four-cylinder, an upgraded version of the familiar 1NZ-FE also used in the Yaris, won't be exported to Australia. Instead, the sole engine option to make it over here will be Toyota's new-tech 2ZR-FE 1.8-litre four. This l00kW (in Japan) engine is an all-new design, intended to deliver strong torque with ultra-low emissions. Once again, Toyota will offer two Corolla sedans: a narrow-body version for the unique demands of the Japanese market, plus a separate wide-body car. The latter model, due to premiere at the Beijing show in mid-November, will head to Australia.

Delicious rumours also speak of a 3.5-litre V6 Auris, set for a mid-2007 release, and a premium Auris spin-off called Blade, which will reputedly get 2.4-litre four- cylinder power and bows in Tokyo before the end of this year. -PETER NUNN

Wheels October 2006

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