Well Built, Not Sold
Striking rumor: Toyota is reportedly planning to build the brutal Corolla GR in the United Kingdom. What would be special about that? Well, that GR is not available in the UK and the rest of Europe at all.
No one less than news agency Reuters states that Toyota is planning to move part of the production of the GR Corolla from Japan to the United Kingdom. That has everything to do with the production capacity available in Toyota’s English factory. Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK in Derby could well spare a production line for building the GR, while the waiting times for the Corolla GR are currently increasing because Toyota in North America cannot meet the demand.
Although this step, according to insiders quoted by Reuters, is not directly related to import duties and/or Trump, the move to England could also bring advantages in that area. After all, the UK already has a deal with the US for import duties of ‘only’ 10 percent, while a duty of 25 percent threatens for Japan (at least in theory).
The Toyota GR Corolla is the American alternative to ‘our’ GR Yaris, which is available there. Unlike the Yaris, the GR Corolla does not have a unique three-door body, but like the Yaris it does have a brutal, fire-breathing 1.6-liter three-cylinder engine, which in this application distributes more than 300 hp over four wheels.