New Toyota Corolla goes Camry-inspired

In May this year, MMN published an article about the next Toyota Corolla going radical, as described by Car and Driver (our article HERE), where insiders tipped about the crisper body lines and tauter detailing not unlike the US Toyota Avalon. We became unsure about this fact when the JDM version, Toyota Corolla Axio came out and it can be perfectly described as conservative. The anxiety was remedied somewhat upon the arrival of the European Corolla, named Auris which wears a distinctive styling that resonates well with the idea of a radical Corolla. Now, for the first time we can catch a glimpse of the American-bound Corolla, which traditionally is equivalent to the Asian Corolla Altis, saved for some minor styling revision.

The front end is characterized by sharper, more protruding bumper and grille assembly, with widened lower intake section. It is expected that it will resemble the larger Toyota Avalon to certain extent. The front windscreen seems to be more rakish but mounted on a slightly higher cowl top section, perhaps indicating a forwarded cabin section. 

Another look towards the rear of the side profile indicates a C-pillar that resembles the new Camry. The overall glass house is less rounded than the current Corolla. The panel surfacing around the roof line and topping the door section is visibly more crisp, eschewing the soft-look of current car. In this trim at least, the door sash is chromed trimmed, and heavily at that.

Much like the front end, there's not much to be seen in terms of rear fascia detailing. The interior shots however, revealed a more upmarket move is on the card. From this limited view, the meter cluster is chrome-ringed and the steering wheel is adorned with operational button. The current Toyota Corolla is no slouch when it comes to interior quality. The only downside is the uninspiring design and conventional layout. 

In the American market, the new Corolla is expected to continue to be powered by the familar 1.8L engine. If this is true, it means that the engine will be carried over for the 2nd time as the current Corolla is powered by the powertrain set carried over wholesomely from its forebear, albeit with retuning to conform to newer emission standard. What is certain is the 6 speed manual will make an appearance in place of the older 5 speeder stick shift, but the automatic gearbox is well, we don't know, as the Malaysian Camry is happily cruising using its 4 speeder automatic. Maybe a CVT like the current 1.8L and 2.0L will be retained hopefully.

The 11th generation Toyota Corolla is tipped to be launch in the American market in the second quarter of 2013. We are probably looking into late 2013 or early 2014 for Asian launch. The interior photo and one more exterior photo can be found after the jump.

Photos are credited to the respective owner as per watermarked.