Toyota Corolla Goes Electric, Production Moves to China — SkimNews
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- Toyota will produce the next-gen Corolla starting in 2028 through its FAW Toyota joint venture with Chinese state-owned FAW Group, the first time the model will be offered simultaneously as a battery EV, hybrid, and gas vehicle.
- The Corolla will be the first model built on Toyota's new "multipathway" platform, a single architecture supporting electric, hybrid, gas, and other powertrains that Toyota already uses on several models including under its Lexus brand.
- Toyota's sales in China fell 23%, marking a seventh straight month of declines driven by weak demand for gas and hybrid models amid soaring fuel prices.
- Chairman Akio Toyoda warned in a July NHK interview that Toyota is being forced to adapt or "cannot survive" amid new competition and technology coming from China.
- Toyota is also planning to build extended-range EVs under its Lexus brand in China starting in 2026, while restructuring both FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota to streamline operations.
- Pricing estimates put the gas Corolla at roughly $25,000, the hybrid around $27,000, and EV/PHEV versions in the $30,000 range, per Car and Driver; the EV is expected to deliver at least 250 miles of range.
Why it matters: Building the 57-million-unit Corolla in China — where Toyota sales just fell 23% over seven straight months — inverts the model that defined Japanese automaking. Toyoda's warning that the company "cannot survive" without adapting frames this as a defensive move: Toyota is leveraging Chinese joint-venture speed and cost to launch an EV fast enough to compete, while keeping gas and hybrid variants on the same platform to hedge the bet.
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