New Toyota Corolla Altis 2014 launch date disclosed

It is now official that the much awaited new Toyota Corolla Altis 2014 will be launched on May 27th, 2014. Infact Toyota dealerships across India have already started accepting booking for the new sedan for a booking amount of Rs 50,000 per unit. The new Toyota Corolla Altis was unveiled for the first time in India at the 2014 Auto Expo held at Noida earlier this year, where the entry-level premium sedan received fairly positive feedback for its more appealing design, compared to the outgoing model. (Also read: 2014 Toyota Corolla Altis review)

The Toyota Corolla is an established model internationally, and even in India has sold over 88,000 units since its introduction, over a decade ago. In the recent times, the sale of the outgoing Corolla had started to dwindle as the aging model could not cope up with the more modern and attractive models of the D-segment such as the Hyundai Elantra and the new Skoda Octavia, prompting Toyota to stop its production. 

The new Toyota Corolla Altis will have the advantage of carrying forward the goodwill already instilled by its predecessors, and by the looks of it, the new Altis seems equipped to take the marque to newer heights. In tune with the current trends, the 11th generation Corolla has shed understated styling of previous generation for a more attractive design, and uses good helping of chrome and LEDs. The new car now features large, swept back headlamps,  LEDs on higher specs, a chunky chrome front grille and a well contoured rear design. These give the new Toyota Corolla Altis a more modern appearance, which is vital in the up-market D-segment it will be competing in.

Like the previous generation model, the new Altis will be offered in both petrol and diesel engines options. It will be carrying forward the same 1.8-litre VVTi petrol engine and the 1.4-litre D4-D diesel engine producing the same 140PS and 90PS of power respectively. Both the motors would get six-speed manual gearboxes as standard, while the petrol model will also be offered with a 7-speed CVT gearbox. Even the interior of the Altis gets a thorough upgrade, and now features 7-inch touch-screen infotainment system and satellite navigation among others. Since the 2014 Toyota Corolla is 100mm longer than the older model, it also offers better rear legroom. 

The new Toyota Corolla Altis seems to have all corners covered, atleast on paper, though we’ll get a clearer picture on its performance and drivability once we get to drive the car. We expect the new Altis to be priced about Rs 50,000 more than the current range which retailed between Rs 12.50 lakh to Rs 16.50 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai), and delivery would commence soon after the official launch.