Right now, everything about Toyota is related to the Land Cruiser nameplate. Over in Australia, some 'lads' took an old non-roadworthy 1978 Land Cruiser and made it electric and seaworthy to break some underwater records by crossing Darwin Harbour - underwater! And in America, of course, the 2024 Land Cruiser was just presented to the public and critical acclaim.
Not to be confused with the J300 Toyota Land Cruiser presented two years ago for other regions, the J250-based 2024 Land Cruiser is a proud sibling of the 2024 Lexus GX 550 – albeit at a potentially lower, vintage-inspired price point. But as iconic as this nameplate may be, there's another Toyota that dwarfs it by far in terms of deliveries.
That would be the 'eternal' Corolla series of compact cars. Initially introduced in 1966, the nameplate became the world's best-selling car worldwide pretty darn soon and has remained at the top of the delivery game ever since. With over 50 million units over twelve generations since 2021 already, it's safe to say this is one model for the automotive history books.
And although most carmakers don't want to have anything to do with passenger cars these days, Toyota has treated its latest, twelfth generation E210 Corolla admirably since 2018 as a hatchback, five-door station wagon, and sedan. Only the hatch and sedan are available in America, but even there, the Japanese automaker doesn't relegate them to background duty.
So, aside from Corolla and Corolla Hybrid sedans plus Corolla Hatchback and GR Corolla models, there's also a new 2024 GR Corolla Circuit Edition plus 2024 Corolla Nightshade family coming to nationwide dealerships. Naturally, some people would also love to jump the gun ahead of time and meet the next generation.
Well, currently, that's only possible across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. For example, the good folks behind the RMD CAR channel on YouTube have the latest scoops coordinated with their unofficial CGI depictions of new models, and the resident pixel master dreamt of a feisty 2025 GR Corolla as part of the thirteenth generation's roster.
Oddly enough, a few elements seem too farfetched. For starters, we are confident that Toyota will not kick off the proceeds for the next iteration with the feisty version. Secondly, the depicted GR Corolla looks more like a liftback sedan than a hatchback or a traditional four-door – as it was partly inspired by the Prius 'Hybrid Reborn.' And thirdly, this styling looks like something developed with help from AI tools, given the imperfections.
Alas, no explanations were given as to these odd choices. So, do take this with a double dose of the usual suspicion, as nothing is official just yet from Toyota. Besides, we wonder if the company will be in a hurry to switch generations for the Corolla nameplate, especially when they are just starting to play the 2024 Nightshade and GR Corolla Circuit Edition goodies in America.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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