2014 Toyota Corolla Altis to be launched in India tomorrow

Toyota has announced that the new Corolla Altis will be launched tomorrow. Though the Corolla Altis was globally unveiled in June, last year, the car made its Indian debut just recently at the 2014 Delhi Auto Expo, earlier this year. Dealers had started accepting bookings for a token of Rs 50,000 a while ago and deliveries of the car are expected to begin a week after the launch.

The new Corolla Altis has been designed along the lines of the ‘Furia’ design philosophy and looks aggressive despite being toned down from the American version. The front of the car carries sharp lines for the bumper and the hood, a three-bar chrome grille and another smaller grille below the bumper.

The new car is wider and longer than the current model and has an extra 75mm of wheelbase. The headlamps have been blacked out and stand out owing to the LED DRLs. The wheel arches are flared and house new alloy-wheels.

The new Corolla Altis will continue to employ the engines of the previous car. The diesel variants are powered by a 1.4-litre D-4D engine producing 87bhp and 2015Nm of torque while the petrol variants get a 1.8-litre VVT-I petrol engine churning out 138bhp and 173Nm of torque. Both engines send power to the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox, though some petrol variants get a seven-speed automatic unit.

As revealed before, the Corolla Altis will be offered in the Indian market in nine variants, which includes five petrols and four diesels. Due to the extra features, it is expected to cost an extra premium of Rs 40,000 over the previous car, which will put it in the Rs 12 lakh to Rs 17 lakh price bracket. It goes up against other D-Segemnt sedans like the Chevrolet Cruze, the Volkswagen Jetta, the new Skoda Octavia and the Hyundai Elantra.