The Toyota Corolla entered its 12th generation in 2019, after more than 50 years on sale. Now, in 2021, the automaker says the car has reached another benchmark, this time with an almost unbelievable number attached to it. In Today, Toyota says that in July 2021, it sold the 50-millionth Corolla. That’s almost one Corolla sold for every six Americans alive today, though the sales total includes international vehicles as well.
The Corolla’s frugal powertrain helped it grow quickly in the United States.Toyota
The Corolla debuted in 1966 but didn’t make its way to our shores until spring 1968. Sold as a 1969 model, the car had a starting price of around $1,700 at a time when the median household income was $7,700. The first cars had a short-stroke 1,077-cc four-cylinder engine, 12-inch wheels, and a four-speed manual transmission. That powertrain produced only 60 horsepower, which was good for the car to (eventually) reach 60 mph in about 17 seconds.
Though the car’s quality and design helped, it was the oil crisis in the early 1970s that really pushed it to the top of buyers’ lists. Big American cars powered by V8 engines fell out of favor as fuel rationing and higher prices took hold. The early Corolla’s fuel economy of over 35 mpg helped it earn a place in many Americans’ driveways as a result.
2021 Toyota Corolla Cross
Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota notes that it was building Corollas in the United States by the mid-1980s and says that the current generation car is built at its manufacturing facility in Mississippi. The automaker’s new joint plant with Mazda, which is located in Huntsville, Alabama, will start building the new Corolla Cross this summer.
