DETROIT — Toyota is giving the Corolla a sportier look and more gadgets, a recognition by the world’s biggest automaker that the under-50 crowd wants more than just reliability in a compact car.
The world’s largest automaker rolled out the 2014 version of America’s top-selling compact Thursday night at a splashy event in Santa Monica, Calif., hoping to shed the old version’s no-frills image and attract new, younger buyers.
The 2014 model, which goes on sale in September, is longer and sits lower, with an athletic look that’s much closer to a sports car than the econobox it replaces. It also gets a new transmission, suspension and interior that Toyota says will make the car quieter and more luxurious, with better handling than the current version. It’s the 11th generation of a car that Toyota has been selling worldwide since 1966.
“It’s a huge car for us. It helped really identify the company and the brand and what we’re all about,” said Bill Fay, group vice president of the Toyota Division in the U.S.
The car’s bold design is unusual for Toyota, which in the past made few changes to its cars with each update. But the new version is badly needed. The Corolla, with a reputation for sterling dependability, is still America’s No. 1 compact. But dealers have had to cut its selling price and offer big discounts to compete against sleek new versions of the Honda Civic, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and Chevrolet Cruze.
“They clearly here are saying, ‘We’ve got to give the Corolla more personality and more life,’ given the way the competition is,” said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University.
