If you’re a car enthusiast on a budget, wanting your one daily driver to be something fun and a little sporty, chances are that you’ve considered getting a hot hatchback, and with good reason. Hot hatchbacks have always been up there with some of the best fun that you can have on four wheels. However, the market has slowly been drying up and finding a truly exciting hot hatch has become a lot more challenging in recent years. Enter the GR Corolla.
The era of the hot hatches in general is slowly but surely coming to an end. With many car manufacturers beginning to look at their carbon footprint a lot more seriously, affordable, fun, sporty, gasoline-fueled cars have become more and more difficult to get your hands on. The GR Corolla stands out in this way, with a lot of impressive specs to get excited about along with a cool yet aggressive styling all suggests this car should be a huge hit. So, what’s the matter with it?
Toyota Isn’t Making Enough GR Corollas
In the United States, hatchbacks are not exactly the most popular form of cars. This has been the case going back throughout all of auto history. Even when hatchbacks have sold phenomenally in Europe and other parts of the world, the U.S. market simply never bought these cars. In 2019 the U.S. made up only seven percent of all hatchback sales globally, meanwhile accounting for 22 percent of the Sedan market for comparison. Toyota has recognized this and come up with a devious marketing strategy.
It all comes down to supply and demand. Toyota recognizes the niche that this corolla fills and the value that it has in the market and wants to keep it niche. Even within the U.S., this specific hot hatch is getting people excited, meaning the demand is high. However, the carmaker has come right out and said that they intend to sell too few of these cars to keep the value up. This may seem like an intelligent business move but is a complete slap in the face to consumers.
Toyota’s aggressive tactics have meant that the GR Corolla is being hit with huge dealer markups. Some people have claimed that their local dealers are selling the GR Corolla for $10,000 to $15,000 above MSRP, bringing the total to nearly $50,000. At this point, you’re within range of buying yourself something a lot more serious.
The GR Corolla’s Incredible Performance Is What Makes It So Desirable
When you look under the hood of this little beast, its no surprise why so many people are so desperate to get their hands on it. The GR Corolla comes standard with the turbocharged three-cylinder that already exists in the already loved GR Yaris, but with some impressive extra tuning.
The GR Yaris outputs a grand 257 horsepower, something that the engine in the Corolla beats by 43 horsepower, bringing it up to a total of 300. All this power is directed through a classic six-speed manual transmission. All in all, this car quite the pep in its step. In tests, the GR Corolla is quick enough to beat the Civic Type R and the Golf R in 0 to 60 as well as 0 to 100 mph tests.
The interior and build quality are on par with the non-GR model of the Corolla, meaning that drivers can expect to be comfortable in the cabin and have access to all the added bells and whistles including climate control, heated seats, and a packed infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay capability.
This means that you can have all the sports trim and the performance you would want out of your hot hatch without having to sacrifice any comforts you would want out of your daily driver. The GR Corolla is the whole package, which makes it all the more disappointing that getting one anywhere near MSRP is absolutely impossible.
At $50,000, What Alternatives Are There To The GR Corolla?
One of the first cars that come to mind at this price point also comes from the minds at Toyota. For $50,000, one could look at getting a Supra. At this level of money, you could even skip past the 2.0L base model Supra, which has an MSRP of about $45,000, and go for the 3.0-liter six-cylinder for about $53,000. This puts Toyota’s marketing strategy into question, especially within the United States where hatchbacks aren’t all that desirable.
The GR Supra had a rocky start but has since improved on its reputation and begun living up to its legacy. It lives up to the best of both the GT and the Sports car classes, delivering a brilliant blend of agility, smoothness, looks, and pure speed. It’s a car you would be quite happy driving anywhere. A GR corolla sounds like a brilliant car, with sporty performance, great handling, and the comfort of everyday driving, but when you’re spending enough that you could consider a GR Supra instead, what’s the point?
However, if you had your heart set on a hot hatch, it's not like your options are limited even below this price point. You can get a new Golf R for cheaper than the GR Corolla, alongside others like the Focus RS, the Golf GTI, or a Hyundai Veloster N.
All in all, it looks like Toyota has shot itself in the foot in North America. They managed to create a product that could have opened up the hatchback market to consumers and instead opted to gatekeep it and plague the GR Corolla with insane markups. Toyota has turned what could’ve been a huge success into a situation that could be badge-killing.