2020 Toyota Corolla Goes Hybrid!

Hey , this isn't quite as goofy-looking as the outgoing Corolla. Nice.

 

"While the Big 3 have or will soon be leaving the C-segment, Toyota’s 2020 Corolla Hybrid runs head first into the gap by adapting Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive directly from the hyper efficient 4th gen Prius."

Which is what confounds me about the 'big 3'.

The corolla hybrid is the perfect commuter car turn beater that will be around for 200,000+ miles that mom and dad are going to send Bif and Kat off to college in. Bif and Kat are going to have some brand loyalty going forward into their adult car buying lives. Now the 'big 3' start looking like the 'shrinking 3' -- isn't that how it works?

/add, and even if better/cheaper BEVs are around the corner -- 50+ mpg is hard to beat from a practical standpoint -- even with $4+/g gas. Now throw in time to build charging infrastructure and time to build consumer confidence in said BEVs -- you're talking decades away from market share dominance.

 

A bit too bland for my tastes. This will compete with the insight but let see which is better.

 

Without driving either one.............. Insight wins.

 

I agree, but the Corolla has 3 strong points vs the insight:

1. Price -- I'm guessing $2,500 difference (comp equipped), maybe more between the two cars. (if Toyota can price this @ $21,500- ish, they ought to sell quite a few.)
2. Reliability -- Toyota's Nimh hybrid reputation is second to none, I think Honda is good now -- but they are still a little tainted from their first effort in hybrids
3. ACC -- A big feature in my book. I've driven Toyota's and have been impressed/ have not driven Honda's but I don't think they are up to the same level.

 

Margins are tight on 'smaller' cars. The Corolla outsells the Cruze and Focus by two to three times. Keeping the Corolla around is easier to justify in terms of money flow than the others.

Then the Focus and Cruze aren't really going away. We will be getting a crossoverish Focus hatchback that, honestly, looks just like the current one with roof rails. Then the plant that makes the Cruze hatchback isn't being closed, and for all we know GM could be moving sedan production there.

I thought those would be adjustable, or is it just following distance?

 

I think any hybrid that comes to market puts a dent in Prius sales. Let's face it, the Prius' heyday was because of higher fuel costs and there not being much other choice, not because the masses actually liked the car.

 

Hi Wayne, any site where to get these numbers? hybridcars.com used to have their monthly sales breakdown for hybrids/PHEV/EV but seems they stopped.

 

I believe the Prius sells in times of cheap fuel partly because of Toyota's stellar reputation for quality.

Buying anything else , except perhaps an Insight , would be like rolling the dice , for me anyway.

 

I see now those 2 numbers are still easy to get since they are separate models. But Honda Accord Hybrid or MDX Hybrid are not specified anymore and not sure if anyone has that data.

 

Honda only mentioned over 5K sales in November '18. So that would likely be between 1-2K sales for Accord Hybrid (5,000-1,833-1,903) which is surprisingly small % of total Accord sales given small price premium. But Toyota typically does bit better with hybrid sales %. I'm guessing since people know they offer these models, and I noticed some people are unaware that Honda even offers some of these models. RAV4 Hybrid should be still at top of hybrid car sales surpassing Prius.

UPDATE: I found Toyota at least does break out sales numbers: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...rts-us-sales-for-november-2018-300758918.html

Seems combined Prius sales are actually bit higher now than RAV4 hybrid (5,492 vs 3,907).

 

Yeah, but the Prius c isn't really a Prius. Might as well count the Corolla and Camry together. I am surprised that there is still Prius v around to be sold. Then the Prime isn't a like comparison for hybrid sales.

 

I missed at end of link they do break out those numbers. Prius+Prime outsells RAV4 but excluding Prime it doesn't. But then again YTD 2018 it does. Either way close and certainly change from just few years ago. Maybe a RAV4 Prime might do well... Toyota originally didn't even wanted to do PHEV's.

 

We can now answer the age old queston:

Q. “Just how much of an mpg gain is the “aerodynamic/futuristic” shape of the Prius worth?”

A. -4%

EPA Highway MPG
Prius Hybrid: 50 mpg
Corolla Hybrid: 52 mpg

 

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=41214&id=41161&id=41163&id=41184

Are you talking about the more efficient shape of a sedan (debatable, but I've seen sedans do very well aerodynamically so I'd probably concede that) or something else. The 2020 Corolla and 2019(?) Prius aren't quite the same. The EPA gives the Prius a couple extra cubic feet in passenger room and puts the Prius in the mid-size category versus compact of the Corolla. I wasn't able to quickly look up curb weights to compare.

The MPG figures at the EPA site are interesting as well. You can see the difference between the different Prius models. The Prime is basically the same shape and heavier, but it still does fairly well for highway rating. I doubt the wavy rear windshield helps that much.