UPDATE: The new 2008 Toyota Corolla Altis has been launched in Malaysia! – click for more details, specifications, photos and pricing.
Toyota Motor Corp will be delaying the new Toyota Corolla until 2008, citing engineering resource constraints as the reason. Toyota says the current Corolla, available on Malaysian soils as the Toyota Corolla Altis will keep it’s current design for a sixth year in the USA, only to be replaced in 2008.
The Toyota Corolla is normally kept for 5 years, with a mid-life facelift, after of which it is replaced with a new model. Photo shown above is the US market Toyota Corolla S with a Sport Plus Package. The USDM Toyota Corolla is similiar to our local Toyota Corolla Altis, different from the Singaporean Corolla which seems to be based on the JDM Corolla instead.
Toyota has had to focus all of it’s engineering resources to make sure the 2007 Toyota Camry launched on time, and is confident that the current Corolla will do well for another year. The Toyota Camry is Toyota’s best-selling US model, therefore it was put on a priority and most resources were allocated to it. UMW Toyota plans to launch the 2007 Toyota Camry by end-2006.
It looks like it will be some time until Toyota refreshes the Corolla here in Malaysia, so in my opinion the new 2006 Honda Civic will remain the king of the mid-sized sedan market here in Malaysia until 2008. I’ve heard that the Civic has waiting lists of 2 months for the 1.8S and up to 4 months for the 2.0S model, unconfirmed though.
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First COmment …… Well vEry SAD…. buT Another nEw model cOming sOOn Yaris sedan….HOORAY!!!!no wOnder….. hope WILL
Is very unlikely that Toyota could miss the opportunity of intro a New Corolla Altis. In my opinion, they already have a plan, but is too far behind in term of things to offer vs the new civic. The reason of cost and focus on Camry seems not reasonable. They may have planned to re-used the current platform with major changes in body styling. Well, with this case, Toyota need to suffer another year and a half lost to Civic.
IMO, I think Toyota got its own customers n enthusiasts, so the basic users won't be gone. Eg like my place here, seldom can see new Hondas on road, but Toyotas.. lots… they buy Toyota, change Toyota again when they sell the old one. That's wat happening here in my town. New honda nissan chevs etc imported cars… very few… just Hyundai a bit less than toyota.
Singapore offered USDM corolla altis as well, also the new genaration camry CONFIRMED will be launched by end of this year because i had saw US model camry on road last week at JB highway with equiped singapore no plate. but now the question is :
local altis same as USDM model, how about local camry , will it be same as US model ??
i personally strongly recommed Taiwan's camry (http://camry.toyota.com.tw/), they have completely renew the front and tail design, quite luxury than US one !!
And altis market price will be more stable since the new model lauching date had been extended 2 more years…there is all my opinion lah !!
Damn, that is too long!
The waiting list for Civic 2.0S is in fact a 8 months long!!!!!
Well .. look at the bright side … two years later … the new Altis will comes with more advanced technology at that time …. so cheers man …
It's very smart of Toyota to strategize properly before they launch the new Corolla instead of doing a rush job just for the sake of screwing up the competition.
Personally, I'm not a Toyota fan. As a matter of fact, I hate most Toyota models, but I can't deny that they build darn good quality cars (except for the Yaris and Vios, which is such an obvious major cost-cutting job).
I think Altis still got the market, therefore they delay it and try to come out a model to really beat Civic. But it is too long alr as 2008…..coz that time Civic also will be facelifted.
ya , the altis is really super quaity car…bt at the same time…one of the most boring looking n driving cars…the new one needs to be very good…to hav a chance…althought even if its a crap car…toyota wil always have customers waiting at their door steps…
amazing.. i thought only proton delays car launches.
toyota corolla designin team is takin a holiday i guess .
lolz !toyota gonna loose out if dey wait till 2008 .
Singapore's Corolla has been the No.1 best selling model for the past 4 years in a row (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005). For 1H of 2006, it's also the best-selling model still. By the way, it's also known as the Corolla Altis like it is in Malaysia. Nevermind it's Made in Thailand. Its fuel-efficiency is better than all its Japanese 1.6(A) counterparts Nissan Sunny, Mazda 3, Mitsubishi Lancer, etc. except Honda Civic.
The reason for the delay is because Toyota wants to produce a more credible contender to the Civic. When the new Civic came out Toyota already conceiving the 'new' Corolla. But the design was not striking enough and they think they would lose in terms of market share. So back to drawing board and hence the delay.
when toyota did dat a civic facelift will be introduce .
new altis cancelled bcos as usual toyota just did some "cosmetic" changes only and they realized the public obviously wun be so stupid to notice it this time compared to major upgrades in 2006 civic.
The thing i hate most about toyota is that they hardly upgrade/ improve (tech wise ) their models at all once they are leading in any particular market segment ( probably the reason behind the myth that toyotas are cheap to maintain….coz there is hardly anything expensive at all in most of their cars bar lexus – i give credit where it is due ). IMO the new civic 2006 is about 10 yrs more modern than the old civic ( at least for the dash and paddle gearbox) and 100x more fun to drive than an altis…..so bored i could fall asleep on normal roads and too much of a body roll like sitting in a sampan during corners…..but toyota will always have their customers no matter what they do/don't do……just bring in brad and britney…
This is a good lesson taught to toyota by honda.
The thing about Toyota is that they do produce good/reliable cars but the design has always been boring. Yes, 'boring' seems to be making money to them but I think consumers wants more than reliablity nowadays.
At least the Malaysian version looks better than the Corolla sedan in the UK…
I think they already have a new model out but after seeing the new civic…. back to the drawing board hence the long delay.
it is a pity…. I just test drive the Honda Civic 1.8 yesterday, and I was planning to visit Toyota showroom soon, to test drice the Altis and to check if there is a new Altis model coming soon, as this Altis model is in fact OLD compare to new CIVIC.
well… will visit Toyota showroom anyway. 1 reason is Altis have 1.6cc while Civic start with 1.8cc
Not due till 2008 eh? How about the 'boring' looking spy pix I have seen somewhere…any idea Paul?
Did Toyota engineers really go scurrying back to its drawing boards?
More importantly Honda Msia can breathe easier now and continue with its infamously long wait-list for its 8th gen Civics.
It may even get worse with both all-new CRV and all-new Stream coming in 2007…so critical that its maxed-out Pegoh plant may explode!
Also, maybe a price hike in store for 2007 Civic stocks/deliveries?
Haha!
In American speak, Model Year 2008 really means Year 2007. So the New Corolla could actually be launched in 2007 as a year 2008 model.
If the New Corolla is launched on Sept 2007, that would made the current Altis exactly 6 years old.
In other words, the New Corolla original launch date was Sept 2006 !
Here's another take:
I am not sure but this is what I thought it could be:
American didn't get the current shape Corolla until 2002 – 1 year after Asia did. So the New American Corolla will appear in 2008 as a Year 2009 model.
In the Japanese market, if the New Corolla is to be launched on Aug-Sept 2007, that would made the current-shape Corolla exactly 7 years old (its Japanese launch date was Aug-Sept 2000). Thai-made New Corolla could then follow 1 year later in 2008.
In other words if not for the New Civic that sent Toyota back to the drawing board, the New Corolla original Japanese launch date was to be Sept 2006 (the current Corolla would be in its 6th year: 2000 ~ 2006) and Thai-made version in 2007, as originally anticipated by Asian Corolla fans.
Any comments?
looks almost the same like the current 1?
so i think New Civic will still dominate the market for Mid-Size Sedan
Test drived the new Civic 1.8 Sport iShift (Euro) today. It was fantastic. The paddle shift took time getting used to. But once you started to get the hang of it, it was a gem. A bit jerky in auto mode though. It feels very tight in corners and composed at high speed. It was a cracking car, very entertaining.