For The Sake Of North America, Toyota Transfers GR Corolla Production From Japan To England

Toyota GR Corolla facelift. (Doc.Toyota Global)

JAKARTA Shocking news came from Toyota. The Japanese auto giant announced it would move the GR Corolla production line from the legendary Motomachi factory in Toyota City, Japan, to England.

Reporting from Reuters on Wednesday, May 28, this decision involved a large investment of up to 8 billion yen or around Rp903.1 billion to build a special assembly line to meet export demand to North America.

This step was taken by Toyota to take advantage of the excess production capacity in the UK as well as accelerate the delivery time of vehicles to the export market.

Starting mid-2026, the high-performance hatchback will be produced at the Burnaston plant, Derbyshire, with a target of up to 10,000 units per year specifically for the North American market.

According to an anonymous source, a number of technicians from Japan will be sent temporarily to the UK to transfer their knowledge and expertise in assembling the Corolla GR, in order to maintain Toyota's standard quality.

Interestingly, this transfer is not a reaction to the import tariff policy imposed by US President Donald Trump. Sources call this decision purely a production optimization strategy.

For information, this month the Trump administration has approved a reduction in car import rates from the UK to 10 percent for quotas of up to 100,000 units per year. Meanwhile, Japan is still working to lobby the abolition of the 25 percent rate imposed by the US on all imported cars.

Since its global debut in 2022, GR Corolla has immediately attracted the attention of performance lovers. This model comes after the success of GR Yaris and offers a different character with a larger dimension and more wild performance.

Last year, Toyota refreshes the Corolla GR with a new design, improved performance, and the presence of automatic transmission for the first time an important step that opens up wider markets.

Compared to GR Yaris, the GR Corolla is dimensionally larger, with a length of 4,410 mm, a width of 1,850 mm, a height of 1,480 mm, and a wheelbase of 2,640 mm. In the exterior, the most striking change is seen in the design of the front bumper which is now more aggressive and functional to increase cooling.

Improvements are also carried out on the suspension system. Toyota adds front and rear shock damping, as well as raising the barrier arm installation point behind to reduce the squat effect during acceleration and improve driving stability.

Behind the hood, the entire Corolla GR variant still relies on 1.6 liters of G16E-GTS 3-cylinder turbo engine which produces 300 hp and 400 Nm of torque larger than the previous version.

The new automatic transmission is no less interesting. Designed with a smart system, this transmission is able to accurately adjust the movement of teeth to the driver's driving style, providing a more adaptive and pleasant driving experience.