The phenomenal Corolla

Although the UK had to wait until the 70s to get its hands on the Corolla, Toyota first introduced the car back in 1966, the same year John Lennon declared 'We're more popular than Jesus now'. Just over thirty years later in 1997, the Corolla itself had become pretty popular too - officially the best-selling car in the world.

It was never the fastest or the sleekest or the one that celebrities chose to roll up to premieres in, so what was the secret of its popularity?

Well, Toyota knew that above all most of us want a car that makes our life easier and the Corolla was very easy to live with. It's one of the most reliable cars ever built. Way before people started to fret about the planet, it was economical and inexpensive to maintain. It wasn't over engineered so you could take your Toyota Corolla hatchback to any garage for a service. And they'd enjoy working on it too - it was a simple car to look after and one that seemed to go on forever. Owners of the Corolla became the best advertisements for Toyota. Not only did it do everything they wanted brilliantly, it kept its value and was easy to sell on. What more could you want?

By the time the Auris superceded the Corolla in 2007, over 30 million had been sold around the world. More importantly perhaps, the Corolla had established a reputation for Toyota for rock-solid reliability.

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