mmarshall

Considering that the Honda Fit/Civic has had a 5-speed auto for years, and even the Ford Fiesta now has a 6-speed auto, I tend to agree. But some automakers still feel they can get by with less-expensive 4-speeds. With the Corolla, we'll see....up to now, it has sold like free beer, even with the existing drivetrains.

IS-SV

Yes, the typical Corolla buyer is less demanding than premium car buyers for sure.

I expect the auto tranny to be upgraded sooner than later, main motivation will be fuel economy.

The Corolla buyer knows to expect top notch reliability/quality/refinement/comfort and low operating costs, despite the rash of Toyota recalls recently.

LexBob2

I agree that the auto trans will have to be upgraded soon.

YTD Corolla sales are 227,882 that's a lot of cars. I'm sure Toyota is waiting as long as they can for the necessary upgrades. Making as much profit as possible in the meantime.

LexusChris

iTrader: (1)

4-Speed, 5-Speed automatic, most buying a Toyota Corolla IMO, will not know the difference as long as it's a Toyota Corolla, they will buy it, my boss has one and I must say it drives well, nothing FANCY but it gets the job done as being a car. I don't think Toyota will have any problems moving these.

MR_F1

Can't argue that it's a sales success, but Toyota's lackadaisical attitude leaves a lot to be desired. You don't neglect your top selling models, and if you do, what does that say for the rest of the brand?

You do know that in Europe all Corollas (Auris) come with 6 speeds right?

Toyota.

-J-P-L-

Regardless of the 4-speed handicap, the Corolla is still among the MPG leaders. No doubt, however, that a 6-speed would boost it to 40 MPG. Still, we can't honestly expect a new transmission mid-cycle. Surely the 2013 redesign will finally receive a 6-speed.

As others pointed out though, most buyers don't care about the transmission specs. I bet at least half of all owners don't even know how many speeds it has.

GFerg

Maybe it has something to do with the Camry? Maybe they are staying with the weak updates to not cut into Camry sales and end its 10+ year top selling streak? I don't think the Corolla is that far behind Camry sales.

Just thinking out loud.

-J-P-L-

You never know. Ford is doing it. They dropped the Ranger from the US market right when they designed a competitive one (for 2011). The new one is Tacoma sized and would have eaten up some F-150 sales. Ford can't risk breaking the nearly 3 decade #1 streak for the F-series.

LexFather

I can't believe that is a new 2011 car. SMH

GlobeCLK

iTrader: (5)

After Mr. Toyota said they're going to make Toyota more interesting, they pull the XRS off the line. Great.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Appropriately so.

If Toyota is going to focus on sportiness, the Corolla is the last car I would put any of my effort into.

It would be better to make a sporty Scion xD or even the Matrix (both of which share the same chassis as the Corolla).

LexusMan77

Some more photos via Toyota. Check out the wheel gap.
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/t...90&id=E3C27166

Fizzboy7

Wow, that is much more of a facelift than I expected. And I don't think I've ever heard of a car that had a 4-speed automatic with manual shifting. (talk about a half-baked product.)
So yes, the primitive automatic is a joke at this stage in the game, but that is not what the average Corolla buyer cares about. The car sells on reputation, brand, reliability, and blending in. This is a great all-around car for those not into cars. I am positive Toyota knows this and does not want to rock that boat.
BTW, the added chrome strip to the rear end (at least on the "sporty" SE) is as ugly as it is on the refreshed Accord.
So it didn't mention if the newly added trip comuter was standard or only available on a certain model?

spwolf

they dropped new ranger because they couldnt price it properly for US market.

spwolf

if they neglected it, it wouldnt be top selling model, would it? As I said before, priorities in that class are different, and pricing is probably one of the biggest ones.