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Toyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga Series, Special Models

The popular Corolla tops the charts as the best-selling car in the world, and Toyota recently cemented its status with a 50 million sales milestone. To properly celebrate the event, the Japanese carmaker launched three special edition models of the car, as well as a manga series detailing the model’s incredible history.
Toyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga Series 10 photos
Photo: Toyota
Toyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga SeriesToyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga SeriesToyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga SeriesToyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga SeriesToyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga SeriesToyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga SeriesToyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga SeriesToyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga SeriesToyota Celebrates Corolla's 50 Million Milestone With Manga Series
The Corolla nameplate has been with us for generations, proving an incredible success for the Japanese carmaker. The journey started 55 years ago, with the humble first-generation Corolla E10, a car that put Toyota on track to become the reputable carmaker that it continues to be to this day. Generation after generation, Corolla proved to be one of the most reliable cars ever built. This prestige also helped it become a bestseller end eventually THE best selling car in the world.

Toyota released the Corolla 50 Million Edition to celebrate this milestone, featuring all three body styles currently on sale – the four-door sedan, the five-door hatchback, and the wagon. There is nothing quite special about these cars except for the badging and the color options, so we’ll not insist on them, especially as they are sold exclusively in Japan.

Not content with this badgemania celebration, Toyota felt the need to push the pedal a little deeper and came up with a manga strip highlighting the key moments in Corolla’s history. The comics images are inspired by photos submitted by current and former Corolla owners and are drawn respecting the illustration style popular at the time.

The comics start with the 1960s era, depicting a father coming home in its first-generation Corolla E10 to take his family out for a drive. Moving on in the 1970s, a father and his son appear to have a tense conversation while traveling in an E20 model. For the next manga, we find ourselves in the ‘80s next to the rear-wheel-drive Corolla AE86. A decade later, the manga shows a family going out for ice cream in an E100 Corolla.

The comics series skips two decades to get to our complicated 2020s and focus on modern technologies like the Corolla infotainment system and social media integration. This is a little ironic, considering Toyota was quite reluctant to adopt Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support.

Regardless, Toyota Corolla hitting the 50 million mark is no small feat. The car is sold in 150 countries and there are 16 plants around the world building them. One in five Toyota cars wears a Corolla badge, while the Japanese carmaker sells one every 15 seconds.

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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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