2025 Toyota Corolla imagined in hatch and sedan forms – would this grab you?

July: New Corolla hatch imagined

Six years into its lifecycle, the current 12th-generation Corolla hatch still looks the goods – especially in tough GR hot hatch form – but it's closing in on retirement.

Earlier this year, we published speculative renderings of how the Corolla sedan might look for the badge's 13th incarnation.

The small sedan will likely adopt Toyota's newest styling language, which has been rapidly spreading across the brand's overseas range (and in plenty of our renderings) – although it's the new C-HR that will first bring the look to Australia, next year.

In hatch form, the Corolla will likely continue the pair's current approach, with the five-door wearing a more sporting look than the usually quite placid sedan.

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Of course, we couldn't resist imagining how it might look.

There have been no spy photos yet of the new Corolla, so these two images are entirely the work of our mate Theottle – although he's obviously got plenty of new Toyota models to draw inspiration from.

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2025 Toyota Corolla hatch rendering by Theottle | © Wheels Media

If you're keen on your next car to be a hatch, would this Corolla grab your attention? Tell us in the comments below!

February: New Corolla sedan imagined

Toyota's 12th-generation Corolla is now into its sixth year on the global stage, which means we can expect a new-look car to debut in the coming year.

Exactly what we can expect from the new car in both styling and technology remains a mystery, but we can likely expect design cues to be taken from Toyota's latest offerings.

Here in 2022, that means the most likely inspiration will be the new Crown range, and the new Prius – neither of which are expected to come to Australia, which could make the new Corolla the first local Toyota to wear the brand's new styling themes.

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Rendering by Theottle

Here we present one speculative take on how the new Corolla might look, thanks to a pair of renderings produced by our mate Theottle.

Leaning to the Corolla sedan body as the base for his work, Theottle's renderings hint at a stylish new design for the world's best-selling car, inspired by the new Crown and Prius as described above.

Theottle's taken some liberties with some key styling elements, particularly at the headlights where he's done away with the hooked design worn by Toyota's new models. Instead, we see a taller design with a single LED signature light running across the top edge of each light.

The rear end shows a design more in keeping with the Prius, with long and slender tail lamps running across the boot lid.

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Rendering by Theottle

⚙️ What will power the new Corolla?

What we'll find under the skin of the new Corolla remains to be seen, although an evolution of Toyota's TNGA architecture and petrol-electric hybrid drive system is likely.

In its current form, the Corolla is offered with a 125kW/202Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine and 103kW 1.8-litre petrol-electric hybrid system.

As a new hero model, Toyota has also introduced the GR Corolla hot hatch, with a 221kW/370Nm 1.6-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder engine packaged under its bonnet. We'll hold out hope that this variant continues into the next-gen Corolla range...

⚡ What about an electric Corolla?

Toyota will also launch an electric sedan in its new 'BZ' range (Beyond Zero (Emissions)) at some point, although for now it appears to be a China-only proposition. For its part, Toyota isn't offering any word on launch plans for that car.

However, we know the company is now working double-time on its overdue EV revolution, with new CEO Koji Sato promising to “drastically” revamp the Japanese automaker’s EV strategy. Get that story at the link below.

🦘 When will the new Corolla come to Australia?

Until the new model is revealed, we can't easily speculate on local launch timing. The current MY23 Corolla facelift was revealed last year, suggesting a new generation could still be a year-or-more away from debut.

With that in mind, buyers might best anticipate an early or mid 2024 unveiling, with an Australian launch to occur in late 2024 or early 2025.

We could even end up with a launch race on our hands, because a new-gen Camry is also expected to debut in the near future – and you can click here to see Theo's Crown-inspired look at the new Camry. (Hint: it looks awesome, although we do love Theo's GR performance version of the current Camry...)

⏯️ Related video: Watch Theottle create his new-gen Corolla sedan

👇 BELOW: The Corolla sedan in its current form, in Ascent Sport hybrid trim

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🤚 While you're here / just for kicks: Here's the new Toyota HiLux with next-gen Tacoma styling cues

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