KEY POINTS:
Toyota's attempt to sex up the Corolla doesn't work out too well.
Toyota's Corolla is going great guns right now. With 5402 sold to the end of October it's New Zealand's biggest-selling model, well ahead of our traditional best-seller, the Holden Commodore.
But the diesel isn't doing anything like as well as it could in the current climate. And that's not just because of its $38,990 recommended retail price (RRP) - but because it only comes with a manual transmission.
Buyers may say they prefer the convenience of an automatic, particularly if they live in congested Auckland. But Europe, which is considerably more crowded, prefers manuals - indeed, most diesels there sell with manual transmissions.
Which explains this one, because Corolla's diesel is built for Europe, not for Japan. So there is no automatic transmission, yet. There's one in the pipeline but it's at least a year out says Toyota general manager sales and operations, Steve Prangnell.
He says Toyota New Zealand took it because it's cheap to run and came with vehicle stability control, which will be fitted to every Corolla from January. And about time, too.
Meanwhile, this car's proved a minor disappointment. I have long admired Corollas. They've been well-built, nicely designed cars, and hold up well enough to justify their brand-driven price premium.
They've never been flashy, but that's not what Corolla was about. At least it wasn't until its designers got a rush of blood to the pencil and decided to tutu it up a bit.
The result doesn't quite work - at least not for someone my height. Sit a comfy distance from the wheel, and that rising central arch gets in your way. It mounts the gear-lever and the handbrake - an awkward pull back, not the more intuitive up.
There is a cubby beneath it, which keeps things fairly well-hidden but is awkward to reach. That's about it for the driver's bits and bobs, along with the door pocket - apart from the cupholder behind your elbow. Fortunately the top of the two gloveboxes is more-or-less within reach.
The 2.0-litre engine performs well enough, although it sounds rather agricultural under accel- eration, almost unforgivable nowadays given how many diesels are so quiet and refined.
It's fairly frugal at the 5.8 average so far, just a little over Toyota's 5.4l/100km
claim despite my hilly commute. It does help that this engine's relaxed performance doesn't encourage you to stir it up, although the suspension certainly seems capable of a little more action.
If you're tempted, buy soon and bargain hard. There's nothing more affordable than an under-loved car at a time when dealers need to shift stock. Prangnell says Toyota prices will increase shortly thanks to rises in raw materials costs and the stronger yen.
Suggest Toyota could change its perceived high price, heavy discounting policy and he bridles.
"We've been embarking on a repricing strategy by adding specification without increasing RRP. RAV4 we've put a safety pack in it as standard and absorbed the spec into the price.
"Meanwhile we're trying to move our true transaction price closer to retail price," Prangnell says.
So the Corolla range won't go up when ESP is standard? That, he says, will depend on the exchange rate.
