A high-ranking executive at Toyota North America says the automaker has an “intention” to build a Corolla TRD based on the new-generation hatchback.
Speaking to AutoGuide.com, Jack Hollis, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota brand in North America, said he would like to roll out the TRD badge to “every car and SUV and every truck”.
“I love the TRD brand, I love what Toyota Racing Development does, and I like learning from our motorsports teams and putting it into our cars,” Hollis told the US-based publication.
“And if we can bring it to every car and SUV and every truck, I think we should,” he said, commenting after the brand unveiled its new Camry TRD and Avalon TRD sedans (complete with “aero-enhanced” styling, uprated underpinnings and more aggressive exhaust notes) at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show.
Hollis added that while a Corolla TRD was “not in the plans yet”, there was “intention and development” going on behind the scenes.
At the end of October 2018, Toyota in the US took the wraps off a modified version of its new Corolla hatchback (pictured above), with the “track-inspired” model displayed at the 2018 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show.
Interestingly, the TRD badge is no longer used in major markets outside North America, with Toyota’s growing range of performance vehicles in Japan instead comprising the range-topping GRMN, mid-tier GR series and the entry-level GR Sport models.
