New Toyota Corolla appears with sharp Prius-inspired look

It seems the Toyota Corolla has been getting style tips from the Prius, which is actually a good thing these days. 

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has published images of what appears to be a new version of the global best-seller. They show the saloon version, which isn’t sold in the UK but is available in various other markets around the world. 

This new Corolla is sporting a much sharper front end that’s more in-line with the brand’s latest models, such as the electric C-HR+ and bZ4X, plus the sleek new Prius hybrid.

Compared with the current Corolla, the updated version features slimmer headlights, a sharper and more angular nose, and a simpler bumper design with a smaller grille. Presumably there will be some fresh wheel designs too, and it looks like the tail-lights have been tweaked too, but it’s hard to tell from these images. 

The current Toyota Corolla starts from around £31,000 but as we wait for the facelift there are good discounts with Toyota dealers. On our Buy A Car service there's as much as £5,000 off pre-registered cars and around £3,000 of some brand new cars from stock. 

Will this new Toyota Corolla come to the UK?

It’s unclear when the updated Corolla will be officially revealed, or whether this new version will be going just to China, or to the rest of the world. 

There have been 12 iterations of the Toyota Corolla so far. The current model was launched in 2019 and is still built in the UK. It received a mid-life facelift back in 2023, and was quietly updated earlier this year with a few changes including a revised hybrid powertrain. 

There’s been no official word on plans for a new Mk13 Corolla, but we expect it’ll happen given the car’s continuing global success. And considering that the current model was launched six years ago now, a successor shouldn’t be too far off. 

What we do know for sure is that UK production of the GR Corolla hot hatch will begin in 2026, and Toyota’s European COO Matt Harrison told Auto Express earlier in the year that this means the four-wheel-drive, rally-derived hot hatch will be sold here too.  

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