At the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, Toyota showed off the Corolla Furia Concept, a vehicle that forecasts the look of the company’s next Corolla compact car.
The Furia Concept is a compact-size vehicle. The concept is about 2 inches longer than the current Corolla, and the wheelbase is about 4 inches longer. To achieve that wheelbase, the wheels were pushed to the corners.
The exterior of the Furia Concept boasts 19-inch wheels, a blacked-out grille, and LED headlights and taillights. It also has some very odd body parts. Those include carbon fiber body panels in the wheel wells, rocker panels, rearview mirror covers, and sections of the front and rear bumper, with metal exhaust outlets integrated into the bumper.
Since the Corolla Furia is a concept vehicle, it will not go on sale. Also, Toyota did not announce pricing or an approximate on-sale date for the next Corolla, but expect prices to be in line with those of other compact cars.
CG Says: Toyota’s Corolla is a staple in the carmaker’s lineup. Cars that sell in high volume for reasonable sticker prices, such as the Corolla, provide most of a car company’s operating capital. Redesigning these all-important bread-and-butter cars is very important but also risky: If the car is a sales flop, the company will take a huge hit. So, rolling out a concept car allows the automaker to gauge the public’s reaction to a new design long before it hits showrooms, allowing time for tweaking if necessary.
To us, the Furia Concept looks great among its conservatively styled competition. The rear end and side profile seem to borrow from the Suzuki Kizashi, and that’s not a bad thing. Of course, the Corolla won’t look exactly the same as this car. Carbon fiber is a prohibitively expensive material, and it likely won’t be offered on a “commuter” car such as the Corolla. Don’t expect to see 19-inch wheels offered as an option on a production Corolla, either. But, the Furia Concept’s wheelbase is longer than the current car’s, and that will likely stay the same. We’d expect more interior space as a result, but we won’t be able to tell until we test drive the next Corolla, which won’t be for quite a while.
