Toyota Corolla TRD breaks cover

Toyota has stunned South African car enthusiasts at the Johannesburg International Motor Show with a hard-charging Corolla hot hatch, the Toyota Auris TRD (the Corolla is badged Auris in some markets).

Expected to pique the interest of Volkswagen Golf GTI drivers, the new Toyota Auris TRD was unveiled to the public with a launch date of November in South Africa. However it is unlikely to come to Australia.

Powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine augmented by a supercharger, the Toyota Auris TRD outputs 133kW/202Nm, an improvement of around 36kW and 42Nm when compared to the nat-atmo version of the 1.6 (which isn't sold in Australia).

Other changes to the car include a sporty body kit, including lower and front and rear aprons and side skirts, 10-spoke alloy wheels, unique badging and firmer sports suspension.

Toyota Australia revived the TRD brand Down Under, with two locally tuned models offered in 2007, the TRD HiLux and TRD Aurion - both supercharged. There was speculation the company might tweak the Corolla as it's next project.

However in December 2008 the TRD Australia operation was closed due to slow sales of the TRD Aurion.

Toyota Australia's Public Relations Manager, Mike Breen, told motoring.com.au the supercharged Auris TRD model seen in South Africa will not be sold in Australia, but he didn't rule out possibility of other performance hot hatches in future.

"We're looking at many things," said Breen, who added "When we looked at TRD [product planning], Yaris and Corolla were vehicles we investigated. The problem was the price would have been too high for the domestic market - it just wasn't viable."

Breen noted, "You need to build a lot of these cars to get a return on investment."

While we won't see a Toyota Corolla TRD any time soon, if ever, a Corolla Sportivo could make a return in the mid-term future to satisfy Toyota hot hatch pundits.

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