Axe possibly looming over Toyota Corolla Sedan and Hatch

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) has hinted at the possibility of dropping the Corolla Sedan and non-GR Hatch amidst the declining C-segment and runaway success of the locally manufactured Corolla Cross.

Declining market and sales

Realigned in 2022 to accommodate a hybrid powertrain in place of the hatch’s 1.2-lite turbocharged unit and the entry-level normally aspirated 1.8-litre petrol in the sedan, the imported sedan and hatch account for the lowest sales uptake in the Corolla range that additionally includes the locally made Quest.

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Excluding the hatch-based GR introduced in July last year, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) for the first six months of 2024 show the sedan and hatch as having accounted for 176 units – 101 and 76 respectively – sales of the total 12 032 Corollas sold far.

By comparison, Quest sales stand at 1 501 and those of the Corolla Cross at 10 354. A further breakdown shows March has been the best month for the sedan with sales of 24, while 21 units of the hatch left dealerships in January and March respectively.

With combined sales of 953 units, made-up of 577 and 376 units sold, the sedan and hatch also ranked behind the Corolla Quest and Cross in terms of overall sales last year. Of the 29 377 Corolla badged models sold in 2023, 5 832 were Quests and 22 592 Cross’.

‘We are evaluating’

Asked about the chance of the the Corolla sedan and hatch possibly being dropped, President and CEO, Andrew Kirby, said it is “certainly something we evaluating”.

“We are very fortunate that in that we have swung a large portion of our production from the sedan to the Cross, so we are well positioned to rationalise our line-up if needed,” Kirby told The Citizen on the side-lines of the new Land Cruiser Prado launch in Mozambique last week.

Affordable segment still key

At the same time, Kirby said that Toyota remains committed to the entry-level A-segment with no plans of abandoning it in favour of bigger and more expensive higher-A or entry-level B-segment offerings.

As it stands, Toyota’s sole A-segment model comes in the shape of the Suzuki Celerio-based Vitz priced from R169 899 to R239 900 – the latter figure making it the country’s cheapest new vehicle by R9 001 over Suzuki’s own base-spec S-Presso 1.0 GL.

“We still see a long-term future for A-segment, even if it is not the biggest. Our volumes have been encouraging, so we don’t have any plans to move away from the A-segment hatch,” he said.

Admitting that it remains acutely aware of the uptake of SUVs compared to hatches in not only the B-segment, but also the A-segment, Kirby remarked that Toyota has “flexibility to adapt” depending on where the eventual volume is strongest.

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