Not long after its global reveal, the 2023 Toyota Corolla has gone on sale armed with new features, light styling changes, a new ZR hybrid sedan grade and more technology than before. Predictably, prices have risen – by up to a large $3,785 in some cases – by Toyota says that those price rises are countered by the new features and technology. The Corolla still competes with cars like the Hyundai i30, Kia Cerato, Skoda Scala, Mazda3 and Volkswagen Golf.
Toyota Australia Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Sean Hanley said the latest upgrades would be welcomed by customers. “With greater safety and convenience features and improved performance for hybrid models, the new Corolla range will give our customers greater peace of mind,” Mr Hanley said.
“Corolla has long been one of Australia’s most popular passenger cars and these upgrades are set to make it even more appealing,” he said.
Stylistically, the 2023 Toyota Corolla has not changed much. There’s a new design for the headlights, tailights, non-ZR wheels and some new colours, but it looks very similar to the handsome hatchback and sedan we’ve become used to – just a bit fresher.
Under the bonnet of the 2023 Toyota Corolla has seen some upgrades. The 1.8-litre hybrid drivetrain now produces 103kW of power and is mated to an upgraded lithium-ion battery pack, which has reduced its weight by 14 per cent but provides more energy. The 2.0-litre petrol engine has seen some updates too, and now makes 126kW/202Nm in the hatchback and 126kW/203Nm in the sedan. Unfortunately, the 146kW 2.0-litre hybrid available in Europe and the Corolla Cross SUV has not been added for Australia.
The 2023 Toyota Corolla has also seen an upgrade to its safety levels, thanks to Toyota Connected Services, which can automatically call emergency services in the event of an accident. The Toyota Safety Sense range of active safety equipment has also seen an upgrade, with the pre-collision safety system adding motorcycle detection, intersection collision avoidance support for crossing vehicles and turning, emergency steering assist, and acceleration suppression at low speeds.
The car’s cameras and radars have also been upgraded for added performance, while blind-spot monitoring has been made standard equipment on the base Ascent Sport – but only the hatchback, not the sedan – and the lane trace assist has been expanded to include the emergency driving stop system feature, which will bring the vehicle to a gradual stop if it detects the driver is no longer making vehicle inputs. The adaptive cruise control has also been updated with four distance settings.
The whole 2023 Toyota Corolla range features an 8.0-inch touchscreen with a new generation of infotainment software. Digital radio is now standard across the range, while a new USB-C port has been added to the front cabin. The Ascent Sport hatchback now features a 7.0-inch screen in the dials, while the ZR (regardless of bodystyle) features a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display.
Elsewhere in the 2023 Toyota Corolla update, the Ascent Sport hybrid sedan has gained satellite navigation and front sun visors with lights and mirrors, while hatchback has added rear seatbelt reminders. Both hatch and sedan Ascent Sport variants are available with an optional $1,000 Convenience Pack, which adds rear cross traffic alert and front and rear parking sensors for the hatch, and rear cross traffic alert and blind-spot monitoring for sedan.
The mid-spec SX has gained automatic wipers and an auto-dimming rear mirror, while the SX hatchback now has remote climate control pre-conditioning.
Finally, the range of colours for the 2023 Toyota Corolla has been altered slightly, with with ‘Sunstone Orange’ and ‘Lunar Blue’ replacing the existing ‘Peacock Black’ and ‘Eclectic Blue’, and joining ‘Glacier White’, ‘Frosted White’, ‘Silver Pearl’, ‘Graphite’, ‘Eclipse Black’ and ‘Jasper Red’ on hatchback variants. ZR hatchback buyers can add a black roof to ‘Frosted White’, ‘Graphite’, ‘Jasper Red’, ‘Silver Pearl’ and ‘Lunar Blue’.
For the sedan, ‘Dark Grey’ and ‘Eclipse Black’ replace ‘Ink’ and ‘Lunar Blue’, bringing the total number of options to eight along with ‘Glacier White’, ‘Frosted White’, ‘Silver Pearl’, ‘Celestite Grey’, ‘Atomic Rush’ and ‘Saturn Blue’.
2022 Toyota Corolla pricing (plus on-road costs):
- Ascent Sport petrol hatch: $28,130
- Ascent Sport petrol sedan: $28,130
- Ascent Sport hybrid hatch: $30,630
- Ascent Sport hybrid sedan: $31,180
- SX petrol hatch: $31,280
- SX petrol sedan: $31,280
- SX hybrid hatch: $33,780
- SX hybrid sedan: $33,780
- ZR petrol hatch: $35,120
- ZR petrol sedan: $36,620
- ZR hybrid hatch: $37,620
- ZR hybrid sedan: $39,120
- Premium paint: $590
- Black roof (ZR hatch – select colours only): $750
- Convenience Pack (Ascent Sport): $1,000
The 2023 Toyota Corolla is on sale now, with the first deliveries due soon. Stay tuned to DiscoverAuto for the latest automotive news and reviews.
Leave a Reply