17 Nov 06
Should you be thinking of buying a Golf or maybe a Focus or Civic, Toyota really wishes you wouldn't. Japan's biggest carmaker would much rather you wait for the Auris, its all-new hatch now out in Tokyo which is heading for the UK in just a few months time.
Auris? Consider it the new Corolla, a car designed to give Toyota a fresh, more happening image in Europe's crowded C-sector.
Driving the Auris in Japan on a series of swift, entertaining back roads out to the east of Tokyo suggests that Toyota's come up with a car that'll please the Corolla faithful. At the same time, the new name and style could yet appeal to those for whom the Corolla pretty much equals Mogadon motoring.
Acceptably fast, smooth, refined, well damped and balanced, the Auris is an easy car to thread between corners. Yes, it efficiently ticks all the required boxes. It's roomy, comfortable and no doubt will live up to Toyota's famed (and deserved) reputation for reliability.
For all that, if it's not a car that seems to be setting out any particularly bold new agenda, it'll no doubt be a good car to buy, in keeping with the Corolla's enduring 40-year tradition...
