A spy shot of the 2020 Toyota Corolla Altis has leaked online from the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show. The new Corolla Altis is slated to make its debut tomorrow. Due to its role as a global manufacturer, Toyota has a twin-model strategy for the Chinese market. This means that the FAW-Toyota joint venture sells the Corolla Altis while the GAC-Toyota joint venture sells the Levin (sister car to the Corolla Altis). Both these cars are on display at the show but as they aren’t carrying nameplates, it is hard to distinguish which model is which.
On the design front, the new Corolla Altis has sleeker headlights and tail-lamps. On the side, it has a tame design with a gently raked beltline and concave surfacing on the lower portion of the bodywork. From the exterior, we can tell that neither of these cars has the headlights Toyota teased for the North American model, which implies we will likely see the China-spec setup making its way to our market.
On the mechanical side of things, the new Corolla Altis is based on Toyota’s TNGA architecture. The Chinese car is equipped with a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine which produces 116hp, a 1.8-litre hybrid engine which produces 122hp and a 2.0-litre hybrid engine producing 180hp. On the inside, the new car has received a major redesign with a completely new dashboard layout.
The latest version of the Toyota Corolla Altis has been on sale in India since 2017, with a 140hp, 1.8-litre petrol engine and an 88hp, 1.4-litre diesel motor. The executive sedan, which is priced between Rs 16.27 lakh and 20.01 lakh for the petrol models and between 17.53 lakh and Rs 19.18 lakh for the diesels, sees competition in the form of the Skoda Octavia (Rs 15.99-25.75 lakh*) and Hyundai Elantra (Rs 13.71-19.94 lakh) in our market. The new Honda Civic, which is scheduled to arrive next year, will also rival the Toyota.
All prices ex-showroom, Delhi
*Skoda prices ex-showroom, India
Dipan Sur
Viraaj Bhatnagar
