Toyota GR Corolla

[takemorepills]

Man, Toyota is going full court press on this. Love it. Must mean it's arriving soon?

I also sincerely hope they can make enough of them to satiate demand.

Unfortunately, these are limited production.

They are not made on the Corolla production lines, they are made at the special GR factory in Japan.

 

[Haste]

The config went up a couple days ago. You might have to play around with the zip code so that it doesn't tell you it's out of stock in your area and allows you to config a car:

https://www.toyota.com/configurator/build/step/model/year/2023/series/grcorolla/

 

[MZGA]

I found two vids regarding the SEMA build.

 

[jdm-rhd]

got a message from one of the dealers i bought a tacoma from. says they want to discuss details of a gr corolla i enquired about. i was at work when i saw it and they were closed. returning their call tomorrow...stand by

 

[therumblewagon]

got a message from one of the dealers i bought a tacoma from. says they want to discuss details of a gr corolla i enquired about. i was at work when i saw it and they were closed. returning their call tomorrow...stand by

Really curious what they say, as it seems to be pretty common (at least in my outreach to multiple area dealers) where Toyota dealerships are prioritizing previous customers for the GRC.

 

[jdm-rhd]

Really curious what they say, as it seems to be pretty common (at least in my outreach to multiple area dealers) where Toyota dealerships are prioritizing previous customers for the GRC.

so i called and they do not actually have any in stock. they are getting their allocations list tomorrow and it sounds like they're trying to get all the people ready (for bidding wars probably) that were interested.

i'll report back when i get any news. if reasonable, i may have to get the gr corolla instead of the z...

 

[Loco38SUP]

so i called and they do not actually have any in stock. they are getting their allocations list this tomorrow and it sounds like they're trying to get all the people ready (for bidding wars probably) that were interested.

i'll report back when i get any news. if reasonable, i may have to get the gr corolla instead of the z...

If its available I would jump all over it. The Z flop is still at Tuber please subscribe and like status.

-RJM

 

[therumblewagon]

If its available I would jump all over it. The Z flop is still at Tuber please subscribe and like status.

-RJM

1,000% same. That car is gonna be a barrel of monkeys to own and drive.

 

[Haste]

so i called and they do not actually have any in stock. they are getting their allocations list tomorrow and it sounds like they're trying to get all the people ready (for bidding wars probably) that were interested.

i'll report back when i get any news. if reasonable, i may have to get the gr corolla instead of the z...

They aren't in stock at any dealer. Production apparently just started less than a week ago. The allocation info that I get from my dealer once a month is always just, "No GR Corolla on this allocation." If the dealer hasn't already started a list/taking deposits then be prepared to pay something insane for the one car, if that, they say they have an allocation for. Seems like most of us with deposits in aren't expecting a car this year.

 

[takemorepills]

My dealership said they were promised 1 GRC before end of year.

But, there's a production limit on the GRC, only 5,000 US cars per year. Not sure if that's 5,000 for Core and 5,000 for the other non-limited special editions, but do the math.... That's only approximately 100 GRCs a year per state. That's nowhere near enough to meet demand, even if interest rates are double digits and the economy has been flushed down the drain, there will still be way more than 100 buyers who can still bid up the few cars available.

Ugh, sucks because the GRC is "perfect" in my mind, AWD, performance oriented and a real Toyota

 

[indio22]

My dealership said they were promised 1 GRC before end of year.

But, there's a production limit on the GRC, only 5,000 US cars per year. Not sure if that's 5,000 for Core and 5,000 for the other non-limited special editions, but do the math.... That's only approximately 100 GRCs a year per state. That's nowhere near enough to meet demand, even if interest rates are double digits and the economy has been flushed down the drain, there will still be way more than 100 buyers who can still bid up the few cars available.

Ugh, sucks because the GRC is "perfect" in my mind, AWD, performance oriented and a real Toyota

I don't get it. Clearly there is demand for these various interesting/fun/performance type vehicles. Sure, maybe not as much as some high volume blah SUV/sedans. But at least it seems more demand than automakers are providing in terms of vehicle output.

Are these execs sitting around laughing, getting some perverse kick out of the situation? "Hey, let's announce this cool vehicle/version people will want over our usual boring cr*p, but let's only produce a small number, so we can watch people scratch and crawl over glass to get one, haha."

George is getting angry!

 

[therumblewagon]

I am not nearly educated enough in the auto industry to know for sure, but if I had to guess, it's probably something to do with profit margins.

I can't imagine these cars make manufacturers a lot of money - both because they don't sell in nearly comparable volume to others, but also because they probably require a lot of separate R&D and other expenses - along with the fact that, like the GRC, they're manufactured in a separate plant. Guessing that would require further resources to be pulled away from their moneymakers, i.e. Tacos, Camrys, "normal" Corollas, etc.

 

[indio22]

I am not nearly educated enough in the auto industry to know for sure, but if I had to guess, it's probably something to do with profit margins.

I can't imagine these cars make manufacturers a lot of money - both because they don't sell in nearly comparable volume to others, but also because they probably require a lot of separate R&D and other expenses - along with the fact that, like the GRC, they're manufactured in a separate plant. Guessing that would require further resources to be pulled away from their moneymakers, i.e. Tacos, Camrys, "normal" Corollas, etc.

That could be part of it. More and more it's feeling like an intentional tease. Like the pretty girl back in school who wants attention and strings me along, even though I have no chance, lol.

 

[takemorepills]

I don't get it. Clearly there is demand for these various interesting/fun/performance type vehicles. Sure, maybe not as much as some high volume blah SUV/sedans. But at least it seems more demand than automakers are providing in terms of vehicle output.

Are these execs sitting around laughing, getting some perverse kick out of the situation? "Hey, let's announce this cool vehicle/version people will want over our usual boring cr*p, but let's only produce a small number, so we can watch people scratch and crawl over glass to get one, haha."

George is getting angry!

You know, I don't need my Corolla to be hand built in the GR factory.

I'd be totally fine with it being assembled next to a beige Corolla LE if it meant more could be made.

I'm totally satisfied with how well built our 2020 Corolla hatchback is.

 

[takemorepills]

I am not nearly educated enough in the auto industry to know for sure, but if I had to guess, it's probably something to do with profit margins.

I can't imagine these cars make manufacturers a lot of money - both because they don't sell in nearly comparable volume to others, but also because they probably require a lot of separate R&D and other expenses - along with the fact that, like the GRC, they're manufactured in a separate plant. Guessing that would require further resources to be pulled away from their moneymakers, i.e. Tacos, Camrys, "normal" Corollas, etc.

Body-on-frame trucks and SUVs are by far the most profitable vehicle any manufacturer makes. Unibody vehicles have a lower profit margin, and at the bottom of the list are the economy vehicles. Up until recently, something like a Civic or Corolla would be under $1k profit to the manufacturer. But, a BOF vehicle can easily net over $10k profit.

Proof of this.... Ford pivoting to BOF and dropping certain unibody vehicles, and nearly every manufacturer pulling back on small car production and basically only having loaded trim unibody SUVs and bigger available during the pandemic.