Some cars leave a paper trail; the Toyota Corolla left a name, a year — 1966 — and a place in Toyota's list. What follows is what can be said with a source behind it.
Where it came from
The Toyota Corolla (Japanese: トヨタ・カローラ, Hepburn: Toyota Karōra) is a series of compact cars (formerly subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation since 1966. Since 1997, the Corolla has remained the best-selling automobile nameplate of all time, surpassing the Volkswagen Beetle. Toyota reached the milestone of 50 million Corollas sold over twelve generations in 2021, and has sold over 54 million units as of early 2026. The name Corolla is part of Toyota's naming tradition of using names derived from the Toyota Crown for sedans, with "corolla" meaning "small crown" in Latin. The Corolla has always been exclusive in Japan to Toyota Corolla Store locations, and manufactured in Japan with a twin, called the Toyota Sprinter until 2000.
From 2006 to 2018 in Japan and much of the world, and from 2018 to 2020 in Taiwan, the hatchback companion had been called the Toyota Auris. Early models were mostly rear-wheel drive, while later models have been front-wheel drive. Four-wheel drive versions have also been produced, and it has undergone several major redesigns. The Corolla's traditional competitors have been the Nissan Sunny, introduced the same year as the Corolla in Japan and the later Subaru Leone, Honda Civic, and Mitsubishi Lancer. The Corolla's chassis designation code is "E", as described in Toyota's chassis and engine codes.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Toyota Publica. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Alfa Romeo Spider, the Lamborghini Miura, the Dodge Charger — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Toyota catalogue sit the Toyota Agya and the Toyota Calya.
What it costs now
The money question first: $5,800–$28,400 is the typical asking range today, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $2,539–$6,917 a year. Insurance sits around $960–$2,150 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.