Affordable price, decent quality, reliability—can you ever find all of these
characteristics in just a single car? Well, you definitely can. In fact, a lot
of people have already found one, and that is with their Toyota Corolla. It is
because of these qualities that the Toyota Corolla is currently the best selling
vehicle nameplate in the automotive industry, registering a sales record of about
30 million vehicle units sold in over 140 countries in the last four decades.
Up until today, no other vehicle can claim to match this success, at least not
in the compact car market segment.
The first Toyota Corolla was unveiled in Japan in 1966 but Americans had to wait
until 1968 before they can catch their first glance on the car. All the delay,
however, was worth it for Toyota, as the car became an instant bestseller after
its U.S. launch. By 1971, the Toyota Corolla was already the second best selling
car in the world and in 1997, the best selling vehicle nameplate. Today, we have
a whole new line-up of Toyota Corollas—a fleet of small 4-door sedans with a different
appearance from the old Corollas but still possessing the same wonderful attributes
that the people have come to love about the nameplate.
The current Toyota Corolla comes in four trim levels: in base CE, stylish S,
luxurious LE and top of the line XRS trims. Standard on all trims except on the
XRS is a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine that outputs 126 horsepower and 122 lb-ft
of torque. Also standard is a 5-speed manual transmission, with a 4-speed automatic
unit available as an option. On the XRS, an upgraded version of the base engine
that outputs 164 hp and 125 lb-ft torque is used, matched with a 6-speed manual
transmission exclusive for the trim level.
Through the years, we have seen the Toyota Corolla change. Through the years,
the car has been equipped with various Toyota Corolla parts of different specifications.
All through those years, however, the Toyota Corolla possessed the very same attributes
that made it the world’s best selling nameplate—Affordability, Top-Notch Quality,
and Reliability.
