The race is on for sales glory

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Toyota has been the best-selling carmaker in New Zealand for 13 years. How buyers react to new versions of two old favourites, the Corolla and Hilux, will pretty much determine if it completes 14 years as number one.

The ninth-generation Corolla and the new-look Hilux are crucial to Toyota as it battles Holden and Ford for the title.

The Hilux went on sale last Thursday and the Corolla is expected to be available within the next 10 days. The official press launch for Corolla will be held next Monday in Auckland, when prices will be released.

There are about six sales weeks left in the year and preliminary figures for October indicate Toyota has clawed its way to the front ahead of Ford and Holden.

The lead has see-sawed between the big three all year - now the race is on.

Toyota is understood to have sold a whopping 1621 cars last month, against Holden's 1269 and Ford's 1234. Land Transport Safety Authority figures for the nine months to the end of September had Ford in the lead with 9136 sales, followed by Holden with 8935 and Toyota with 8790.

But Toyota's boom October puts it out in front for the year, with a provisional 10,411 sales against Ford's 10,370 and Holden's 10,204. The official LTSA figures aren't yet available.

Sales of the Camry, Echo, four-wheel-drive Land Cruiser and run-out Corolla were understood to be particularly strong, indicated by Toyota's preliminary passenger car sales for October of 1130.

Holden sold 1038 cars, among them a record number of VX Commodores, New Zealand's most popular passenger car for 14 straight months.

The numbers were boosted by the appearance late in October of the VX Series II. Commodore sales are nearing 5000 for 2001.

Ford apparently sold 793 passenger cars for October, mostly Falcon and Mondeo models. Of the other carmakers, Mitsubishi is understood to have come fourth with 523 overall sales for the month, followed by Nissan with 497 and Honda with 353.

The all-new Corolla features a strong European influence which, reports say, is reflected in the performance and ride/handling mix.

It has more interior space than the out-going model, has a higher roofline and sits on a longer wheelbase.

It will come in three body styles - hatchback, sedan and wagon and designated GL, GLX and TS.

The TS stands for Toyota Sport, a worldwide brand created to give Toyota a youthful, competitive image.

The idea behind TS is to emphasise the carmaker's expanding role in motorsport - its World Rally Championship and Le Mans 24-hour campaigns and its entry into Formula One next year.

Toyota has already taken the wraps off its first Formula One car, which will make its debut at the Melbourne Grand Prix next March.

The high-profile Formula One project is seen as essential to Toyota's plans to beef up its image and to attract new buyers. It is the only carmaker other than Ferrari to design and build in-house a complete Formula One car.

The high-performance TS Corolla is expected to be powered by the 1.8-litre variable valve VVT-i engine from the MR2 sports car.

The Corolla is the world's best-selling car. More than 29 million have been sold since the model was launched in Japan in 1966.

The Hilux, the best-selling commercial vehicle in New Zealand for the last 18 years, comes in 12 models - seven two-wheel-drive and five four-wheel-drive.

There are three four-cylinder engine choices - 2.7-litre petrol, 3-litre diesel, or 3-litre turbo-diesel - and three body styles - single cab, extra cab and double cab. The newcomer to the Hilux range is a two-wheel-drive diesel extra cab.

The 2.7-litre engine produces 108kW at 4800 rpm and 235Nm of torque at 4000 rpm. The naturally aspirated 3-litre diesel puts out 71kW at 4000 rpm and 200Nm of torque at 2600 rpm. The 3-litre turbo-diesel develops 85kW at 3600 rpm and a stump-pulling 315Nm of torque at 2000 rpm.

The new Hilux gets a restyled exterior, including new bonnet, front bumper, headlights, front grille and rear tail-lights, while the interior improvements include a three-spoke steering wheel and new seat cloth. There is a wider range of exterior colours and optional equipment runs to anti-lock ABS braking, dual airbags, air-conditioning, and an in-dash CD player.

Prices range from $29,400 for the 2.7-litre cab/chassis to $51,300 for the SR5 turbo-diesel double cab.