Australia: Could 2013 be the year of the Toyota Corolla?

Good old me in front of Parliament House in Canberra, Australia November 2012.

* See each year of Toyota Corolla sales in Australia since 1967 by clicking on the title! *

JANUARY 2013 UPDATE: The answer is yes, 2013 was indeed the year of the Corolla – see the Full Year 2013 report here

Last weekend I had the opportunity to be one of the first people to be able to rent the all-new Toyota Corolla hatch in Australia (and probably the world yay!) through rental company ‘No birds’ in Sydney. I drove 700 km to the country’s capital Canberra and back, being the very first person to drive that very model – only 13 km on the odometer at the start of my trip and a nonchalant ‘no need to do the inspection as this is a brand new car’ from the rental guy…

The Toyota Corolla hit its record market share in Australia in 1986 at 5.3%

One month ago at the Sydney Motor Show just before the new Corolla went on sale across the country, Matthew Callahor told me: “We’re trying to get everything we can get (in volume terms) for 2013, we haven’t got a clear forecast in terms of production yet but given the level of interest we’ve seen even before launching the car here, I think we’ll be very well placed in 2013.” And I can confirm the curiosity from people along my roadtrip was unlike any other new model in that category. Most punters in Australia want the Corolla to succeed and are pleasantly surprised with the new design. Given the Mazda3 will be in a transition year with the new generation due to launch next year, the Corolla will have a full year of sales to better its highest ranking in the country: #2 from 2006 to 2010.

Good old me in Canberra with my rental new Toyota Corolla hatch. Thanks to Adrian for the pic.

And this week the Toyota Australia team was kind enough to share with me exclusive sales figures for the new Corolla hatch since launch on October 22. You won’t find these figures anywhere else! So thanks to Matthew, Mike and Elise for all your support. In October the new Corolla hatch sold 591 units vs. 1,528 for the old gen hatch and 858 for the sedan. In November (up to 13/11) the all-new hatch sold 654 units so far vs. 210 for the old gen hatch, so the relay has now well and truly been passed.

1970 Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla was originally introduced in Australia in 1967, just one year after its official presentation in Japan. Over this period, more than 1.2 million Corollas found a home in Australia and thanks to the Toyota Australia team I can now share with you exclusive Australian Corolla sales figures for each year since 1967! The milestones over the period are the following: in 1971 the Corolla sold over 10,000 annual units in the country for the first time, in 1975 the 20,000 annual sales were passed, in 1986 the Corolla hit what remains to this day its strongest annual market share at 5.3%, in 1990 it passes the 30,000 yearly units and in 1991 it lodges its 2nd ever 5%+ market share at 5.1%.

See the entire article and all annual Toyota Corolla volumes since 1967 below.