Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced that cumulative global sales of the Toyota Corolla surpassed 40 million in July, reaching 40.01 million units. This milestone marks another historic achievement for the Corolla, Toyota’s perennial global car.
Marking the milestone, Corolla chief engineer Shinichi Yasui said, “I feel this car has been nurtured by people all over the world and I am very proud to have contributed to its foundation and grateful to all those who have owned and loved their Corollas. The key to the Corolla’s success is the faithful passing down of its original development concept from Tatsuo Hasegawa: that the Corolla must bring happiness and well-being to people around the world.”
The Corolla was originally designed to meet the changing needs of Japanese commuters in the mid-1960s. Then chief engineer Tatsuo Hasegawa recognized that with Japan’s industry expanding, most consumers’ daily commuting time was increasing. The need to get around in a personal vehicle was therefore growing and this insight led Hasegawa to conceptualize the first Corolla, with his guiding principles defining the vehicle ever since: always evolving and designed to meet consumer needs in each market.
When the first Corolla rolled off the production line, many basic safety features were still optional. Later, to meet the needs of families, Toyota decided to include many of these features as standard. Toyota’s commitment to pursue higher and higher levels of quality and continue adding new standard features to the affordably priced Corolla has helped ensure that families around the world continue to choose it more than any other nameplate.
The Corolla, currently produced at 15 plants worldwide, accounts for one in five vehicles sold in Toyota’s 76-year history.
First published in Gadgets Magazine, October 2013