Possible next car in the future Toyota Corolla Touring Sport.

[Konrad C]

Whilst I was in a Toyota dealership for another matter, I saw the new Corolla Tourer in the showroom. They just took delivery. It is nearly the same size as the Avensis Tourer. For me, it looks better than the Auris.
  

 

I took more photos and looked all the features. There are a couple of things I noticed. Tall rear passengers will notice the top of the door frame below the eye line, so you look down out of the window. Probably the rear bench, being higher to accommodate the Battery. Still plenty of room overall. Oh yes the car has a space saver, very important to me. The boot floor can be lowered for more capacity. There are more things I could say. 

The model I was in is top spec Excel. I want one, but a lesser spec.

I better start saving for a second hand one. 

[Heidfirst]

I will be looking at both the new Corolla TS & RAV4 when my car is in for it's next service in June - gives me something to do whilst I wait! 😛

Hopefully won't need to buy a new car for at least another 3 years (5+ would be better).

[Konrad C]

I went back for another look, and the car was moved from the showroom to the carpark. It either has been test driven or being prept for sale. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody eager with a lot of money, has bought the car. This is Jemca Sidcup.

[Garth-1]

Konrad, I think this illustrates that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  To you the Corolla looks better than the Auris.  To me, the front of the Corolla is unspeakably ugly.  Sorry!  It's all down to personal taste.

[FROSTYBALLS]

To be honest neither the Corolla, the Auris or the Avensis (including the second generation) are especially good looking from the front. Certainly no worse than some Audis, etc though. Then again, looks aren't everything.

[Heidfirst]

25 minutes ago, Garth-1 said:

Konrad, I think this illustrates that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  To you the Corolla looks better than the Auris.  To me, the front of the Corolla is unspeakably ugly.  Sorry!  It's all down to personal taste.

Indeed but there are differences - to me the front of the sedan is nicer than the hatch or TS (although I wouldn't call any of them unspeakably ugly). Again imo from the side the sedan or TS are nicer than the hatch.

To me the Auris was bland & what I think that Toyota have decided/discovered from the likes of the CH-R is that stronger, more individual designs sell better - yes, you will put off a chunk of the population but equally you will appeal to a chunk whereas the Auris imo was always a decision purely from the head never from the heart ...

12 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

To be honest neither the Corolla, the Auris or the Avensis (including the second generation) are especially good looking from the front. 

I quite like the original Avensis T27 from the front & the 2012 facelift. I agree that the 2015 facelift is not from the front, particularly in light colours.

[Konrad C]

On 3/24/2019 at 11:15 PM, Garth-1 said:

Konrad, I think this illustrates that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  To you the Corolla looks better than the Auris.  To me, the front of the Corolla is unspeakably ugly.  Sorry!  It's all down to personal taste.

I actually agree with you Garth. The front looks too fussy, like the Mirai, recent Prius, and any other model with a similar front end. For me the side profile of the Corolla Touring Sport, looks better than the Auris equivalent. 

[Morton54]

I think the new Corolla is an attractive tourer. And the design is more classic European than many other Toyotas. It's gonna sell. But I'm really wondering if Toyota's decision to stop the Avensis without any replacement is a smart move. I mean, in Norway and many other countries it has been among the most sold estates for years. Now they dont have any large family Estates at all! The Passat and Mondeo get rid of their most important rival. And what's the big difference between the Auris and Corolla.. looks like it shares the same market to me.
In two years I'm ready to replace my 2009 Avensis estate with a new. I think I'll look for one of the last Avensis production models.. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Toyota decided to stop the Avensis because of low sales volumes.

Although there is no direct replacement, the Corolla saloon/estate and the Prius (each of which have the same wheelbase as the Avensis - 2700mm), and the Camry are the Toyota models which are indirect replacements.

[Morton54]

Just now, FROSTYBALLS said:

Toyota decided to stop the Avensis because of low sales volumes.

Although there is no direct replacement, the Corolla saloon/estate and the Prius (each of which have the same wheelbase as the Avensis - 2700mm), and the Camry are the Toyota models which are indirect replacements.

Yes, I know that. But still.. Camry hasn't been sold in Europe for years so ther's no real replacement. But as indicated in this thread, maybe it's not that big difference to the Corrolla Estate. And it's certainly nice to have the Hybrid drivetrain. It's a joy to drive my wife's Yaris Hybrid around in the city.

[FROSTYBALLS]

41 minutes ago, Morton54 said:

Camry hasn't been sold in Europe for years so ther's no real replacement.

It the same as saying the Corolla hasn't been sold in the UK for years - so that's no real replacement.

The fact a model may not have been sold in a market for a period, doesn't mean that a new model (which the Camry is) won't be a success in conjunction with the Corolla and Prius in that market sector. One needs to consider how well the three models cover the market sector the Avensis was in.

[Morton54]

Doesn't disagreee with you. Just wasn't exactly what I ment. (English isn't my native language). I merely questioned the decision to scrap the only large estate and replace it with another midsize estate. 
Yes, I see now Camry is going to be sold again, but only as a sedan. But it might well be the right thing to do.. I dont know

[Heidfirst]

1 minute ago, Morton54 said:

DI merely questioned the decision to scrap the only large estate and replace it with another midsize estate. 

The new Corolla TS has the same wheelbase as the old Avensis TS & a larger boot capacity seats up  & similar with seats down (in theory, how usable in practice we'll have to see).

I suspect like the Auris it will feel inferior to an Avensis in solidity though but not planning a test drive any time soon to confirm.

[gswindale]

On 3/23/2019 at 1:29 PM, Konrad C said:

  

 

That infotainment display unit just looks awful - looks like somebody has just slapped an iPad onto the dashboard without thinking.  I know it is all the rate these days, but I'd much prefer a straight dashboard without any weird protrusions.

[Morton54]

 I know the Avensis sales have been low the last years. No wonder when they only do some cosmetic changes to an old concept. Ford and VW have not stopped their large estates? Instead they now have introduced new models (Passat, Mondeo) with electric/hybrid engines! Beats me why Toyota  do this..

[Morton54]

22 hours ago, gswindale said:

On 3/23/2019 at 2:29 PM, Konrad C said:

 

That infotainment display unit just looks awful

Agree! It must be poosible to fold it or hide it in the dash? 

[FROSTYBALLS]

19 minutes ago, Morton54 said:

Ford and VW have not stopped their large estates? Instead they now have introduced new models (Passat, Mondeo) with electric/hybrid engines!

Ford are losing money hand over fist in Europe, and are in the process of reducing their manufacturing operation. 5000 jobs going in Germany. Just announced the B-Max and C-Max are finishing in the summer. In the US they have supposedly cancelled the next generation Fusion (the US version of the Mondeo) - which may not bode well for the Mondeo continuing. Last year there were rumours of the S-Max, Galaxy and Mondeo being chopped.

[Gerg]

1 hour ago, Morton54 said:

Agree! It must be poosible to fold it or hide it in the dash? 

I have driven this car. The infotainment screen is solidly mounted to the dash; it will not move.

On the upside though, the ride is very good indeed on the 17" wheels that were on the test car, presumably we can thank TNGA for that.  The arm rest on the door is supremely well padded.  (It should get COTY award just for this).  I got 72 mpg out of it, driving lightly but with almost no miles on it.

But, on the other hand, the armrest on the centre armrest is the usual Toyota fare, so a bit mean.  

This is not a full report, I'm just waiting for my call from AutoExpress.

 

[Heidfirst]

51 minutes ago, Morton54 said:

 I know the Avensis sales have been low the last years. No wonder when they only do some cosmetic changes to an old concept. Ford and VW have not stopped their large estates? Instead they now have introduced new models (Passat, Mondeo) with electric/hybrid engines! Beats me why Toyota  do this..

There are very few large mass market non-premium Badge estates left  - other than the Passat/Superb, Mondeo & Insignia the only ones that come to mind are Peugeot 508, Mazda 6 & Hyundai i40/Kia Optima twins. The pug, Mazda & Mondeo at least are on "old" platforms (the reason that the Avensis went was that volumes didn't justify the investment to move it to a new platform & the Corolla saloon & estate grew to fill the same gap).

The Mondeo hybrid isn't great.

There is a massive difference between the sales levels of Passats (#1 in this class) & Mondeos & Avensis/Mazda 6/Peugeot 508 etc.but even the Mondeo is apparently walking a very fine line of whether it gets the chop or not ... Even the Passat has lost 30%+ of it's sales volumes in the last 3 years ...

47 minutes ago, Morton54 said:

Agree! It must be poosible to fold it or hide it in the dash? 

Nope, it's more in the driver's eyeline there (supposedly therefore safer) & you'll find most modern cars have similar.

[Morton54]

Well... I get the picture. Large estate buyers like me is an extinct species. Going to be SUV then next time. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

12 minutes ago, Gerg said:

The back seat area (hatchback) is as small as the previous model.

.. but the Corolla hatchback isn't one of the three models filling the place of the Avensis

[Heidfirst]

5 minutes ago, Morton54 said:

Well... I get the picture. Large estate buyers like me is an extinct species. Going to be SUV then next time. 

http://carsalesbase.com/european-sales-2018-midsized-car-segment/#more-52929  NB that the 2018 Avensis sales figures were obviously down because it was discontinued by the summer.

[Konrad C]

On 3/30/2019 at 8:55 PM, Heidfirst said:

There are very few large mass market non-premium badge estates left  - other than the Passat/Superb, Mondeo & Insignia the only ones that come to mind are Peugeot 508, Mazda 6 & Hyundai i40/Kia Optima twins. The pug, Mazda & Mondeo at least are on "old" platforms (the reason that the Avensis went was that volumes didn't justify the investment to move it to a new platform & the Corolla saloon & estate grew to fill the same gap).

The Mondeo hybrid isn't great.

There is a massive difference between the sales levels of Passats (#1 in this class) & Mondeos & Avensis/Mazda 6/Peugeot 508 etc.but even the Mondeo is apparently walking a very fine line of whether it gets the chop or not ... Even the Passat has lost 30%+ of it's sales volumes in the last 3 years ...

Nope, it's more in the driver's eyeline there (supposedly therefore safer) & you'll find most modern cars have similar.

Scott you answered the questions well for me. The Mondeo hybrid is a bit of an afterthought, in my opinion. It probably there to meet some emissions target. I must admit, I am not keen on the screen looking like it was stuck on. This is current design for most makes, so I would get used to it.