The Toyota Corolla Concept Levels Up the Humble Sedan

TOKYO—The world's best-selling nameplate could be getting a seriously different look, and more powertrain options.

The Toyota group didn't just reveal high-end models like a six-wheeled minivan or a Rolls-Royce fighter at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show. The humble Corolla also showed up in concept car form, featuring a dramatic look that offers a potential taste of where the exactly a name that's already sold 50,000,000 units could head next.

Starting up front, the Corolla concept takes the hammerhead look first used on the current Prius and extends the elements, using a thin, light-up bar along the leading edge and thick black bars connecting to the lower fascia and housing yet more LED lighting. A steeply-raked windshield and angular window line give the concept a much more exotic look than the existing model, and there are very pronounced rear shoulders for what is typically a humble economy car. Contrasting roof trim is hardly new—even the current Corolla hatchback employs it—but the treatment at the rear, which sees the dark bits wrap around the bodywork surrounding the window and incorporates the small rear lip spoiler, sure is. A thin strip of LEDs make up the rear lighting, sitting above a sizeable diffuser. It looks huge, closer in size to a Camry than the current Corolla.

Even better—and probably even further from production, given the Corolla's typically affordable pricing—is the cabin. Bright, airy, and positively spacious, There are a lot of concave surfaces and indirect lighting at play here, including the wraparound "trough" that flows into the armrests. There are two screens in here, one in front of each of the front seats. Without a traditional infotainment setup, the driver would instead utilize the controls on either side of their instrument cluster; we're not sold on whether that's better or worse, but hey, this is a concept—shouldn't it be a little experimental? To that end, the transparent mini-car used as a shifter is the sort of whimsy we want to see more of in the next Corolla.

The flat floor and stretch-out rear legroom suggests an electric platform and sure enough, Toyota suggested a Corolla powered by nothing but electrons could be a part of the future model mix. It wouldn't be the only option though. Peep the two caps on the concept's left side, for example: the charging port aft of the front wheels even has a nearby display to provide battery info. That isn't to say a regular hybrid won't still be a part of the lineup either: Toyota has already said it is working on a 1.5-liter hybrid four-cylinder, and we'd be shocked if some version of it doesn't end up under the next-generation Corolla's nose. If the car ends up looking even close to this concept, well all the better.

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