The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that Toyota Motor is postponing the North American release of the remodeled Corolla to 2008 from its scheduled 2007 launch in order to ensure quality.
Toyota will introduce the new Corolla in Japan on Tuesday, and had planned to bring it to the overseas markets about one year later. The company decided to wait on the North American launch, according to the report, saying that improving quality has become a priority.
The Corolla is Toyota’s second-best seller in the US behind the Camry, and has been increasing sales at a rate much faster than its larger, top-selling cousin.
In September, Corolla US sales were up 9.6% (volume basis) to 32,279 units from the year before. Camry sales grew 3.9% (volume basis) to 38,269 over the same periods. For the first nine months of the year, Corolla sales have increased 15.4% to 306,353 compared to the first nine months of 2005. Camry sales over the same period have increased by 1.4% to 340,905 units.
Because of high crude oil prices, sales of the current Corolla have been brisk even though the redesigned model is coming out soon... This seems to have led the company to conclude that postponing the North American rollout will have only a limited impact on earnings.
Toyota reportedly will introduce the remodeled Corolla in Europe in 2007 as planned.
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