2023 Toyota Corolla facelift due this October – report
The world’s best-selling car – and Australia’s favourite small car – is due for a styling and technology update later this year, according to an overseas report.
Australia’s best-selling small car – the Toyota Corolla hatch and sedan range – may be in line for a facelift before the end of this year, according to a new overseas report.
Dealer sources cited by Japanese website Creative Trend suggest the Corolla will undergo its first ‘major’ update since the current model debuted in 2018, with the refreshed range reportedly due in Japanese showrooms in October 2022.
Exterior changes will lead the updates, with a revised colour palette, new headlight and tail-light designs, and a new front grille design – though it’s unclear if these will change the shape of the lights and grille, or simply revise their internals (lighting signature and grille pattern).
Inside, a larger display will reportedly feature in the instrument cluster – but the report doesn’t clarify whether this will apply to the 4.2-inch screen fitted to Australia’s Ascent Sport and SX variants, or the 7.0-inch display used in the range-topping ZR.
Toyota does not currently offer a vehicle in Japan or Australia with an instrument cluster display larger than eight inches – though this will reportedly change with the facelifted, Japanese-market Harrier SUV, which Creative Trend says will gain a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.
Other changes as part of the Corolla update are set to include revisions to the active Toyota Safety Sense driver assistance suite and, in Japan, the deletion of the 1.8-litre non-turbo four-cylinder engine option in favour of the 1.5-litre non-turbo three-cylinder used in the smaller Yaris.
This engine is not available in Australia in non-hybrid form – and no mention is made to Australia’s current choice of 1.8-litre hybrid and 2.0-litre non-turbo four-cylinder engine options, suggesting these will carry over unchanged.
Prices may undergo minor increases to account for the new features and revised styling. The current Corolla is priced from $25,395 before on-road costs in Ascent Sport hatch and sedan form, and tops out at $34,695 for the flagship ZR Hybrid hatch.
All signs point to the addition of a high-performance GR Corolla hot hatch variant later in 2022 – though oddly, no mention is made to it in the dealer information sourced by Creative Trend.
The facelifted 2023 Toyota Corolla range is reportedly due in Japanese showrooms in October 2022, according to the website – which would correlate to an Australian launch close to the end of the year.
The arrival of an updated model should keep the popular small-car nameplate fresh until an all-new model arrives, likely in late 2023, or sometime in 2024, using the life cycles of past Corolla generations as guides.
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