Toyota will build the GR Corolla hot hatch in the UK from next year in a bid to cater to increasing demand.
Confirming this week's report from Reuters, the Japanese manufacturer said it had chosen the Corolla plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire, to boost GR Corolla production and preparations had been under way since last year.
The hot Corolla will be the first GR model to be built outside Japan. Toyota said Burnaston – Toyota Manufacturing UK – was a natural fit because of the capability of the factory and its staff. It also pointed to the "deep motorsport culture" in the UK aligning with its GR (Gazoo Racing) sub-brand.
The business case was almost certainly swayed by the fact that Burnaston also has a large and ready supply of Corolla bodies and ancillaries.
Toyota added that the decision comes as part of a wider production overhaul aimed at accelerating production and customer delivery times. Indeed, GR Corolla buyers in the US have typically faced long waiting lists and dealer-added cost mark-ups since the car's launch in 2022, owing to strong demand for the model.
Production and investment levels will be announced by the firm at a later date, but Reuters previously said it would cost £41 million to add the new line at Burnaston and that would give a capacity of 10,000 cars annually.
Reuters added that Toyota’s Motomachi plant in Japan – the so-called GR Factory, responsible for output of the GR Corolla, GR Yaris and GR86 – is currently at full capacity. It assembled 25,000 GR cars last year, of which around a third were Corollas.
As well as boosting overall output of GR Corollas, the addition of UK production will surely give Toyota additional flexibility to build other models at Motomachi. It could ramp up GR Yaris production, for example, or add entirely new models at the factory.
Join the debate
Add your comment
If there's such a demand for GR Yaris and Corolla, how come I've only ever seen one or two?
If it's the UK you're looking then given they don't sell the GR Corolla here might explain why you haven't seen them. GR Yaris on the otherhand, maybe because it looks so similar to a Yaris? They've obviously sold many in Central Scotland because I see them everywhere, which given their price and running costs, surprises me.
Motomachi as a whole outpust far more than 25,000 (I spent many happy hours there....). Maybe you just mean 25,000 GR vehicles. Great news for the team at TMUK
Great to see the additional cars being built in UK. Hopefully a few of these non dull Corollas will miss the boat and end up staying here.