2019 Toyota Corolla Preview
Toyota’s compact continues to rank among the best-selling cars in Canada, and for the 2019 model year, the Corolla iM is replaced by the all-new Corolla Hatchback.
The 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback rides on a new platform that also serves as a basis for the company’s most recent small cars and crossovers. It competes against the Honda Civic Hatchback, the Mazda3 Sport, the Volkswagen Golf and the Hyundai Elantra GT, among others.
Standard features include cloth upholstery, automatic climate control, a height-adjustable driver’s seat, an intelligent key system, the Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 suite (pre-collision warning with pedestrian detection, auto high beams, lane departure warning and prevention, adaptive cruise control), a windshield wiper de-icer as well as an Entune 3.0 Audio system with traffic and weather info, Scout GPS Link (with three-year subscription), six speakers and Apple CarPlay integration. All for a base price of $21,980 before freight and delivery charges.
The $23,580 SE trim adds a 16-inch alloy wheels, a leather-wrapped wheel, heated front seats and paddle shifters for the automatic transmission, while the SE Upgrade package includes a wireless charging zone, blind spot monitoring, a heated steering wheel and 18-inch alloy wheels. Finally, the XSE benefits from SiriusXM satellite radio, dual-zone climate control and a fancier sound system with a three-year connected services subscription, navigation, a seven-inch touchscreen, a power driver’s seat as well as cloth and leatherette seat upholstery.
The 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback is equipped with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that develops 168 horsepower. A six-speed manual transmission comes standard, while a continuously variable automatic is optional—but included in the XSE. This new transmission is called Direct Shift-CVT, and features a real first gear before switching to the continuously variable ratios of the gearbox, improving performance. With the latter, city/highway/combined fuel economy is rated at 7.5/5.8/6.7 L/100 km. The Corolla Hatchback’s cargo area has a volume of 503 litres with the rear seats up.
Meanwhile, the 2019 Toyota Corolla sedan carries on unchanged, but should get a full redesign for the 2020 model year, moving on to the Hatchback’s platform. It rivals the Honda Civic, the Hyundai Elantra, the Nissan Sentra, the Kia Forte and the Volkswagen Jetta, among others. It’s equipped with a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine that develops 132 horsepower, or 140 in the Corolla LE Eco version. A six-speed manual is standard, while a continuously variable automatic is optional. With the automatic, city/highway/combined fuel economy is set at 8.3/6.5/7.5 L/100 km, although the LE Eco is about a half-litre more efficient.
The base CE, which starts at $16,790 before freight and delivery charges, includes the Toyota Safety Sense suite that bundles pre-collision warning, auto high beams, lane departure warning and prevention as well as adaptive cruise control, along with a six-speaker sound system with 6.1-inch touchscreen, USB port and SIRI Eyes-Free compatibility. Air conditioning is optional.
The sportier SE trim ($20,905 and up) adds keyless entry, a windshield wiper de-icer, automatic climate control, leather-wrapped steering wheel, cloth and leatherette upholstery, heated front seats and sport instrumentation, while the LE ($21,090 and up) takes on a more luxurious approach with premium fabric upholstery and door panel trim. A heated steering wheel, a power sunroof, 16- and 17-inch alloy wheels, a navigation system, an intelligent key system, a power driver’s seat and SofTex leatherette upholstery are all available as options in either the SE or the LE trim, or included in the XSE ($25,970) and XLE ($25,780) packages. The Corolla sedan’s trunk capacity is rated at 369 litres.
The 2019 Toyota Corolla is now on sale.