Toyota Corolla dubbed ‘world’s most popular car’ by automaker
by Canadian Manufacturing Daily Staff
Japanese company claims it has sold 40 million Corollas since car's launch in 1966
TORONTO—Toyota is touting its longstanding Corolla model as the world’s most popular car the same week as the Canadian launch of the all-new 2014 edition of the compact car.
According to the automaker, it has sold more than 40 million Corollas—including 1.3 million in Canada—since its inception almost 50 years ago, taking the crown as the top selling passenger car globally.
The Corolla has been built in Cambridge, Ont., since 1988, just one of 14 plants worldwide that build the popular people mover.
“The key to the Corolla’s success is the faithful passing down of its original development concept from (then chief engineer Tatsuo) Hasegawa: that the Corolla must bring happiness and well-being to people around the world,” Corolla chief engineer Shinichi Yasui said in a statement.
Originally designed to meet the needs of commuters in Japan, production of the Corolla was first launched November 1966 when the automaker opened a new plant in Takaoka, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, dedicated solely to the car.
Two years later, with an emphasis on providing region-specific vehicles, production began in Australia and Malaysia—the same year exports of the Corolla were launched in the United States and Canada.
The Corolla is still built at Toyota’s plant in southwestern Ontario.
