Slightly OT: 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatch
 

Some critical details are lacking, but I have to believe the entry of this model MAY give Honda something to think about when the next generation of the Fit comes around.

First Look: 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback - NY Daily News

they shouldve kept the Matrix name.. corolla sounds so horrible.

Different Strokes I guess.
But I'm not a fan of the recent trend of building dash boards with MFD screens that look like removable tablets but aren't. Kind of started with Mazda. But I really dislike that look.

Also, I really like the Honda rear headrests BECAUSE they can be pushed all the way down even with the back, thus NOT blocking rear vision. I hope they never change that.

I'd have to see the Corolla hatchback in person, but there's nothing in that description that makes me all that excited. The bar that seems to be rapidly rising with new cars seems to be with standard safety features.

I like this a lot.

I'm excited to find out more, this may speed up me getting rid of my Fit.

Looks OK to my eye. I'm also not a fan of an iPad stuck on the dash design. Nothing wrong with the crayola name. Toyota has been using that one for a very long time.

Apologies for posting this originally in the wrong section.

Anyway, I was interested after reading about the CVT's first gear, which seems to give the car some power from the start before the CVT takes over. And there's a 6 speed!
Right now I have a 2017 6mt Fit, but if my move to SF comes to pass, I am thinking more and more that a CVT would be better for the hilly terrain.

And it looks like the XSE trim offers a moon roof. That's just a personal preference.

Toyota is being coy. The compression ratio looks intriguing, but the details about the horsepower are under wraps for the moment.

Since I am old and old school, I am not really too concerned about the dashboard's bells and whistles. I try to avoid those distractions.

In many ways it ticks more boxes than the Fit. Small enough to park in tight spaces in the city? Build quality and reliability? Powerful enough for around town and the highway?

It doesn't have the magic seats and cargo capacity, though.

It's 168 hp

I love Corollas. Had several in my immediate family growing up. In my family it was mostly always Toyota or Honda.

But I don't know if Toyota doesn't have a problem with the Corolla name.
It has the reputation of being reliable, a bullet, well built vehicle. But I think it suffers with younger buyers, as being something they associate with the reliable family vehicles of their own youth. For many of them, a Corolla was the vehicle they rode to the beach in, with their parents. It's not something they associate with being hip or cool.

Toyota thinks they are reaching and can reach younger buyers. Which is why they closed down the Scion nameplate.

Maybe...but it remains to be seen.
I think 5 years ago, this product is released under the Scion flag. Now, it's being released as a Corolla hatchback. And they obviously are promoting it as being "sporty". They are not going for the young family heading to the beach segment of the market.
But we will see who actually embraces this product.

I've always felt Toyota kind of made a mistake first building up the Scion moniker, and then abandoning it. I liked the Scion products, and the idea that they were the products being aimed specifically at younger buyers.

Toyota now evidently wants all Toyota's to be Toyota's. OK...
But that's an advantage and also simultaneously a disadvantage. I think the success of "Corolla" and it's incarnations over literally decades, leaves a lot of people with pre-concieved ideas of what a Corolla "is".
Whether they can re-invent those concepts? Sell this as something new? A sporty, hatch-back Corolla...really does remain to be seen.

Lately Toyota has struggled with Yaris, Tercel, Matrix....

This could be a great product. I'll probably go look at one, when they hit the dealerships. But whether Toyota can create enthusiasm about a Corolla hatch-back? Remains to be seen.

When I was a kid, my parents had a Corolla Station Wagon. It was absolutely what they wanted. It was great, economical, reliable, and utilizable vehicle. But that's stuck in my history and consciousness. That's the last "Corolla" that I remember being able to open a back hatch and fold down seats.
It was a great vehicle BUT...it wasn't hip, cool, or sporty.

It was the mid to late 70's, and it actually had a fake wood paneling insert on the sides.
I've always liked "odd" looking vehicles...those Corolla station wagons were so ugly...they were beautiful.

Thanks! This adds to the intrigue.

168hp sounds good.. at least in the right direction to be considered a 'sport'-ish hatch. not quite a sports-hatch but in a much better position than a Fit. but then again, honda's true sports hatch is the civic-typeR so maybe fit will never get the power it deserves.

sentra SE-R (was it?) were somewhat cool-ish back in the days but sedans these days dont sell especially to the younger crowd unless it has reputable performance numbers like the WRX. plus that sentra nismo is all plastic like the Fit-Sport. all show no go.. going 100% in the wrong direction.

at least the corolla hatch is a hatch and getting more power. Fit can use more power. sentra can use a better engineer.

I remember the Corolla XRS.

I wanted one quite badly. Other than the Focus SVT, it is my favorite cheap sporty car of the early 00s.

Sometimes the Marketing department just drops the ball. The "Matrix" name is pretty well known; not Corolla level sales but you saw them not infrequently so someone was buying them. If they called it the Matrix and said it was a subcompact crossover, they'd sell a ton. Call it a Corolla and a hatchback ... I guess you will expect to see around the same number as a Hyundai Elantra GT. Seen one yet?

That is a great idea, exponent! I like that, "RAV-3" :D

They would sell 8x as many.

dats funny but so true. most people dont know wtf they are driving.

i saw this corolla hatch in black the other day. with the new engine, i believe it will sell well. :nod: