New Corolla Delayed To 2008: Toyota Cites Quality Concerns

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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S4cabriofox - 10/9/2006 10:52:05 AM

0 Boost

The time has come... Toyota is getting too big for its own good.

Watch their quality go down dramatically in the next decade.

Following in the footsteps of GM...

Maybe the new Corolla will end up reliable and practical just like the last one... YAWN.

PlanoA4 - 10/9/2006 11:12:06 AM

+2 Boost

Will, you were close but you guys beat me to the punch.

I have no doubt the the Corolla will up to par. With this a second delay, Toyota is making it clear the will not tolerate another quality issue fiasco. They obviously are making changes to ensure they don't fall into the trap they so narrowly avoided.

In this case Toyota is setting the example of what to do in a case like this. They are not moving forward come hell or high water. They are addressing the issues and taking the time to do it right.

While I am not a Toyota fan at all, I do applaud them in doing the right thing. GM or Ford NEVER would take the time to ensure the quality like this. Maybe that is why they are in so much trouble.

Nordic - 10/9/2006 6:28:50 PM

+1 Boost

"If this were a German car company, they'd go ahead and release it knowing fully well it had quality issues, just to be the first to scream 'innovation!' "

You're absurd. To try to dismiss all of the innovation that the German manufacturers have brought to the auto industry by implying that everyone was working on the same things but the Germans just introduced theirs first to beat the competition shows that you're delusional. Who else was even close to producing their own electronic fuel injection systems in the seventies and eighties? The Japanese manufacturers and others either used Bosch systems or built their systems under license from Bosch. Bosch, today, supplies the Japanese manufacturers with their piezo-injection f/i systems. How problematic was ABS when Mercedes introduced it in the late seventies? Or how problematic was electronic stability control when Mercedes introduced it ten years ago?

M53R - 10/9/2006 11:03:23 AM

0 Boost

Will

Even if this was delayed 20 years, nothing will happen, since it doesnt have anything to make toyota hurry in launching it. YAWN...

kart1 - 10/9/2006 12:37:35 PM

+1 Boost

Why hurry when sales of the current 4 year old model increases by 9.6%. Wow Toyota sales aren't decreasing because of up coming models ;).