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The Toyota GR Corolla took the world by storm when it debuted in March as an affordable high-performance hatchback, and now a new report from Japan’s Goo-Net magazine claims that a sedan version could potentially be in the works with a reveal as soon as mid-2023. While it’s certainly more than a long shot, especially considering sedans’ waning popularity in most markets, there could be a case to be made for a GR Corolla sedan coming to fruition.
For one, it could allow people to get their hands on a GR Corolla who otherwise wouldn’t be able to, or potentially just help water down the market so dealers would be less inclined to placing huge markups on these cars that are already in limited supply to begin with. Even though Toyota’s initial approach was likely to limit supply to increase demand, there’s clearly no shortage of demand, so it could make sense at this point to just shoot for increased accessibility and increased sales.
See Also: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla MORIZO Edition Goes Hardcore, Drops Rear Seats And Gains More Torque
Additionally, while plenty of people are perfectly fine with the hatchback design, not everyone likes their performance cars in 5-door flavor. Some do prefer the less bulky design of a sedan, even if it comes at the cost of reduced practicality. Also, the regular Corolla sedan actually has more back seat legroom than the hatchback, which is something people might prioritize over sheer cargo volume. That being said, seeing as one of the car’s core selling points is all-wheel drive, a driveshaft running to power the rear wheels would likely encroach on some of that extra legroom, at least for the middle passenger.
Something else to think about is the transmission. It’s already been made known that Toyota is working on an 8-speed automatic for the GR Yaris, and since that car shares many components with the GR Corolla, namely the engine, we could see Toyota pull a strategy opposite to what they did with the Supra: offer only the manual transmission to start, then introduce an automatic later. This would have the benefit of getting more people into a GR Corolla who wouldn’t have otherwise bought one, either because they can’t drive manual or would prefer a simpler driving experience.
Read More: Toyota GR Corolla Chief Engineer Reveals More Details About The Hottest Hatch Of The Year
Additionally, introducing a new transmission later in the production run would help keep the car relevant as interest begins to fall off with each successive model year. Even aside from the transmission, simply introducing a GR Corolla sedan could accomplish that goal to keep the overall GR Corolla name relevant over its life cycle.
This is again something Toyota did with the Supra. The first year was the initial release, the second was added power, the third was the limited edition models, and the fourth was the introduction of the manual. Each year, Toyota has done something to keep the Supra relevant in the public eye to keep sales consistent, and it would make sense for them to do something similar with the hotly-demanded GR Corolla as well.
Related: Did Subaru’s Decision To Axe WRX STI Plans Have Anything To Do With Toyota’s GR Corolla?
On the other hand, there’s also some solid points against this car’s existence. For one, as mentioned before, sedans are becoming less popular, with many automakers shifting their focus to crossovers and SUVs or ditching sedans altogether. Granted, Toyota has said in the past that they’d remain loyal to the sedan body style, but we’re not sure if that loyalty would extend to developing a sedan adaptation of a limited-run rally-special Corolla.
Another issue is that as pointed out by Drive Australia, the Corolla sedan has different dimensions in different markets, so production on a global scale could be difficult. In that case, the automaker would likely have to either make different versions of the car for different markets, try and homologate one market’s version for global use, or simply only sell the car in certain markets. Finally, there’s the issue of Subaru. Toyota works very closely with Subaru, with many of their models sharing platforms, and while a GR Corolla sedan would likely slot closer to the now-dead WRX STI in terms of price and performance, there’s also a chance it could cannibalize sales of the regular WRX.
With all that being said, all this speculation around a GR Corolla sedan is simply that, speculation, but there’s certainly a case for it to happen. What do you think? Do you think Toyota would build a GR Corolla sedan? Would it make sense for them to? And if they did, would you buy one? Let us know in the comments.
