News that Toyota intends to build the GR Corolla in the UK was greeted with enthusiasm by PHers when we revealed it last month - predictable enough, for a forum audience that had repeatedly chided the firm for not bringing the more family-friendly model to Europe in the first place. Of course, Toyota knows all about this nation’s enthusiasm for performance cars in general and hot hatches specifically, but the size of the potential audience - and high demand for the GR in larger markets - has always clouded the case for introducing the car in the Old World.
Counter to some internet speculation, the arrival of the production line in Burnaston plant does not mean anything automatically changes - global carmakers are no strangers to building cars in countries that have no domestic market to serve, and presumably the reduction in US tariffs played some part in the decision, alongside the fact that TMUK already builds the Euro-spec Corollas. Nevertheless, with the departure of the Honda Civic Type R and Ford Focus ST both confirmed, the size of the opportunity for a UK-built GR appears to be widening by the month.
Adding fuel to the fire are remarks made by Toyota’s European COO, Matt Harrison: “We have a philosophy that you build where you sell, so to build in Europe and not sell in Europe would be counter to that,” he told Auto Express this week. “The gap between supply and demand is now, so it’s about how quickly we can get it. We need to act fast.”
The idea of needing to promptly make space for a UK (or European) allocation of cars is, as ever, crucial to elbowing some space in Toyota’s global plan - especially when it involves a model that is already said to be heavily oversubscribed. The firm has struggled to keep up with demand for several recent variants, most notably the new Land Cruiser, which dramatically exceeded the level of interest shown to previous generations. The less said about the initial supply of the GR86, the better.
Helpfully, the GR Corolla isn’t nearly as bespoke as the Yaris, although it too requires processes beyond standard manufacturing; preparations for its arrival at Burnaston are said to have started last year, and no example is destined to leave the production line till next year. There have been internal rumblings that this date will coincide with an announcement of a planned market expansion, but for now we must content ourselves with whatever crumbs of comfort Toyota is prepared to drop.
At any rate, no UK-spec model would be cheap, nor plentiful. The GR Yaris - currently unavailable to order - starts at around £45k, meaning the larger Corolla would comfortably exceed £50k, precisely the amount that hindered the outgoing Civic Type R. By next year, the car would also need to rival the just revealed Golf GTI Edition 50 - a version that already exceeds its current output and arrives with a ‘ring time worth boasting about’. Probably pictures of the GR Corolla testing on the Nordschleife are just a coincidence. Or possibly not. As ever, until told otherwise, we live in hope.
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