After Taiwan, will the Philippines get 2019 Toyota Corolla Altis?

MANILA: Toyota had already brought out the 12th generation Corolla Altis in front of the world in China last year. However, the sedan has taken some good time to enter the ASEAN countries as it has begun its new journey in Taiwan. The updated sedan by the Japanese automaker not only features revamped looks and interior but also a couple of new mills along with a hybrid setup. Starting with the appearance of the 2019 Corolla Altis, the sedan features the ‘Prestige’ styling rather than the ‘Sporty’ look it gets in the Japanese and U.S. markets. This quite clearly indicates that the other ASEAN countries will also have to get along the ‘Prestige’ look only.

If you’re wondering what the ‘Prestige’ style relates to? Well, we’ll make it simple for you. In short, the sedan features a design language similar to the all-new Camry, and that’s it. While the large grille and headlamps are reminiscent to the Camry, the fog lamps along with their casings remind us of the Toyota Alphard. A more rakish than before windscreen has contributed to the rounded roofline on the 12th generation Corolla Altis. Moving to the rear of the sedan, we find a small ducktail spoiler along with redesigned and larger tail lamps.

Hop inside the 2019 Toyota Corolla Altis, and you’ll find the same cabin that we have seen on the wagon and hatchback. Taking centre stage is a floating touchscreen infotainment system with Toyota’s Drive+ Connect. The instrument panel is also full LED now, albeit on select models. Safety features on the new Corolla Altis are also plenty including seven airbags, heads up display, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Automatic High Beam (AHB), Lane Departure Alert (LDA) with steering assist, Lane Trace Assist (LTA), and Road Sign Assist (RSA).

Coming to the most important aspect of an automobile now, the 2019 Toyota Corolla Altis gets two different internal combustion engines. First of the two is a 1.8-litre 2ZR-FE engine capable of throwing out 140 PS of maximum power and a peak torque of 173 Nm. Transmission unit mated to this motor is a Super CVT. A 1.8-litre hybrid unit that makes a maximum power of 122 PS couple with an E-CVT makes up the second powertrain option. With the 2019 Manila International Auto Show around the corner, we should not hesitate in speculating that Toyota might just bring the sedan in the Philippines at the grand event.