Ford may reckon it’s time to kill the family hatchback in Europe, but the UK-made Toyota Corolla now outsells the formerly market-leading Focus by nearly 20% and its maker therefore begs to differ.
The Japanese giant has just made a wide-ranging series of updates to the Corolla, which currently jousts with the Kia Ceed for second position behind the Volkswagen Golf in our C-segment hatchback market.
The aim, it says, is to keep UK sales steady at their recent annual 18,000-plus level for the next few years while selling the other 85% of the hatchbacks and estates made in the vast, 500-per-day Burnaston plant into 35 export markets, the bulk of them going to the EU.
Toyota’s experts are well aware of a decade-long decline in demand in this segment, noting that SUV sales in the same class exceeded hatchbacks for the first time during 2021, but they also say the class is stabilising and that for the next few years volume will stay within two per cent of SUVs.
The updates to the Corolla fall into four areas: cosmetic changes (new headlights, grilles, wheel designs and colour options); a fifth generation of the famous Prius-bred full hybrid system that powers every Corolla; a new suite of driver assistance and active safety systems; and major improvements to the cockpit systems, the clearest signs of which are bigger screens with improved functionality.
Inside, the new combination of a 10.5in central screen and a highly configurable 12.3in ‘combimeter’ moves the Corolla close to the top of the class, especially now there are knobs for most-used functions
There are also now four trim levels: Icon, Design, GR Sport and Excel, Trek having disappeared. Excel and GR share the top rung, the former being a luxury option and the latter sportier in look if not performance.
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Now that Astra production has ended at Ellesmere Port I would like to see the Police and Fire Service buying British built Corolla Estates. The UK automotive sector needs support and Toyota must be considering whether it's Derby factory has a future with so much of the supply chain in the EU.
That the Corolla noew outsells the Focus just shows how the UK has fallen out of love with Ford's cars. Give it a few more years and Ford will just sell the Mustang and commercial vehicles over here.