We all know the new Toyota Corolla is due pretty soon.Just putting out a few pluses and negatives of the next generation corolla.
There is plenty of storage space and cubby holes if that's what you are looking for in a D-segment sedan.This corolla is loaded with toys like cruise control,rain sensing wipers etc[Check this post for more details:Hottest corolla].We have a very roomy interior and a very refined engined but the list of negatives may just outweigh the positives.For starters Toyota plan to stick with their old engine line-up[slightly tuned up],OK this may not be such a big complaint but we certainly expected the global leader to show the way forward.Then there is the quality issue,as far as the interiors are concerned the civic feels more upmarket than the latest generation corolla.Even the instrument cluster is down to earth compared to the fighter jet like of the civics.
Now for even more bad news.The next generation corolla is going to be significantly more pricier than the existing corolla and we don't know if it will come with that diesel engine[I say that because the chances of a diesel seem pretty remote].To cut it short if you were to tell me to put my money on one of the two[corolla or civic],I'd stick with the civic as being the overall winner in this segment.The corolla will sell but looks unlikely to upset the Civic's leadership status unless Toyota change their strategy.
Now for the Hyundai part.Hyundai have so far not been able to sell high end cars in India.But the new elantra/avante could just change all that for Hyundai.There is a huge opportunity in the D-segment for a reasonably priced diesel sedan.Hyundai will definitely launch a diesel and if reasonably priced[make that priced much lower than the corolla] hyundai could just steal the thunder from Toyota.As for the Chevrolet optra diesel,If I were the GM boss I would soon start a marketing campaign emphasizing the diesel for it too has an opportunity to winover customers from the japanese camp.Make no mistake diesel is going to be king for a pretty long time to come in markets like ours.
[image source:autoblog]
