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Report: Japanese carmaker to push back remodeled sedan to 2008 to maintain quality. (http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/07/news/international/bc.autos.japan.toyota.reut/index.htm?postversion=2006100700)

Reuters - Oct. 7, 2006

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2008_Toyota_Auris-Corolla.jpg
2008 Toyota Euro based Auris the 2008 Corolla?

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp will push back the North American launch of its new Corolla from 2007 to 2008 in order to maintain quality, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported Saturday.

Toyota, Japan's top auto maker, has been plagued this year by a rising number of vehicle recalls. In July, it recalled some 400,000 SUVs in the United States, its single-biggest market.

Sales of the remodeled Corolla are set to start in Japan next week, and the company had hoped to cut the gap between domestic and overseas releases to one year from the usual two, the Nikkei said.

Instead, the company has decided to prioritize quality and start sales more gradually, the paper added.

Toyota officials were not available for comment.

The Corolla is currently manufactured at a plant in Canada and a joint venture plant with General Motors Corp in California, where Corolla production is up roughly 10 percent this year.

The company may have judged that delaying the launch of its new model will have only a limited impact on profits, the Nikkei added.

Toyota last month mapped out a plan to boost global vehicle sales by 11 percent over two years to 9.8 million units in 2008.

i'd be surprised if the corolla gets a hatchback counterpart since I thought it was the Yaris that was suppose to do that job.

either or should be interesting since the civic is eating up sales like no tommorow.

Hi Phil:

___Although I have reported this news via other outlets here at CleanMPG in the past, the thing that amazes me is the first time I heard it, the next Gen Corolla was being moved back a year “because” of the 8th gen Civic redesign. That info came from the mouth of a Toyota exec in fact! This Quality control non-sense being spread through the international news media is a white wash. Either way, I suspect the next gen Corolla to be something pretty special but it remains to be seen what they will do with it? The current Corolla w/ a stick is already capable of 41 highway per the EPA (60 + for us ;)). If the Corolla evolution continues, expect very similar underpinnings, newer body style similar to that shown, and at least a 140 HP ICE with an Atkinsonized intake for low torque requirements allowing even higher highway FE. The 03 - 07 Corolla already outdistances the Yaris and this is what I am hoping for.

___Good Luck

___Wayne