Where Are Toyota Corollas Made? (Solved & Explained)

The Toyota brand is a global car manufacturer with manufacturing plants on several continents, but the carmaker didn’t have such long tentacles at inception.

One of its most popular models is the invincible Corolla, popular among cost-conscious drivers.

Where are Toyota Corollas Made?

Toyota Corollas were made originally only in Takaoka, Japan. Since then, the company has branched out to several factories around the world, including in the U.S., China, Thailand, India, Vietnam, the U.K., and more.

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Where Are Toyota Corollas Made?

At the onset, Toyota only made Corollas in Takaoka, Japan.

Now, Toyota also builds the Corolla in factories across several countries, including the U.S.A., China, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Turkey, and Venezuela.

The Toyota Corolla hybrids are made in several countries, including Japan, China, the U.K., the United States, Brazil, and Thailand.

Nevertheless, not all these countries produce all the Corolla versions.

We found no records stating the production of Corolla hatchbacks in countries apart from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A.

So, it is possible that only the Toyota factories in these three countries manufacture them.

On the other hand, every Toyota factory builds Corolla sedans.

Are Corollas for the U.S. Market Produced in the U.S.?

Until 1986, all Toyota Corollas for the U.S. market were imported from Japan.

Even as of 2016, U.S. Toyota factories still imported 25% of the Corolla cars sold in the U.S.A. market.

However, today, the case is different.

For instance, Toyota made all the 2020 Corolla models for United States residents at the Mississippi factory and the Alabama factory the company shares with Mazda.

Are They Assembled in the U.S.?

Toyota Corollas are assembled in the U.S. The Mississippi Toyota factory assembles Corolla cars, alongside other factories across the world.

How Can You Check Where a Specific Corolla was Produced?

You can determine the model year and country of origin of a Toyota Corolla by checking its Vehicle Identification Number (V.I.N.).

The V.I.N. is a unique combination of 17 letters and numbers that distinguish one vehicle from another.

No two vehicles share a V.I.N. Your Corolla’s Vehicle Identification Number is located on the metal plate of the dashboard.

The first character of your Vehicle Identification Number represents the country where it was manufactured.

For instance, in the V.I.N. (2IHCI51KZNM320979), the character that points out the location where your vehicle was produced is 2.

Then, you have to figure what the number 2 means regarding Corolla model years.

The number ‘2’ indicates that the car was produced in Canada. If the first character of your V.I.N. is a letter, it means that your Corolla was produced in a country outside North and South America.

Take, for example, the letter ‘J’ refers to Japan, and ‘L’ indicates that the location where your car was produced in China.

As an alternative, you can check for your car’s origin by entering your V.I.N. on websites like searchquarry.com and autocheck.com.

Are Japanese Or European-Built Cars Better?

Based on expert reviews and user feedback, it seems that Japanese-built Corollas are better than European-built Corollas.

Two car enthusiast, David Wyatt, and Luc Devriese, claim that Japan Toyota factories assemble and design their Corollas better than European factories.

According to them, the reason for this is that the Japanese are more detail-oriented. David cited examples like the Beam L.E.D. Headlights and stitching of the seats, which have better finishes in Japan-made Corollas.

The disparity in quality may be because of experience and quality standards.

Japan being the home country of Toyota, it is not surprising that they strive to produce only the best products.

Where Is the Corolla Designed?

Most Toyota Corollas are designed by the Japanese in Japan.

For example, Corolla’s Chief Engineer, Yoshiki Konishi, designed the Corolla E210 in 2016.

A group of Japanese inventors, including Masaki Okue, also designed both the Japanese and international versions of Toyota Corolla E140.

Nevertheless, some factories outside Japan have made modifications to the designs. For example, the Brazil Toyota factory built Corolla sedans that operate on electricity.

Where Are Corollas Made for the Australian Market?

The Australian market imports the Corolla sedans it sells from Thailand.

However, Australian stock of Corolla hatchbacks come in from Shizuoka, Japan.

Where Are Corollas Made for the Canadian Market?

Data from Wikipedia shows that as of 2014, Canada only produced 50% of the Corollas in its market at the Ontario factory, Canada.

The rest were sourced from other countries in North America.

However, in 2015, Toyota moved its factories from Ontario to Mexico.

So Canada does not make Toyota Corollas anymore.

Where Are Toyota Corollas Made for the UK Market?

The United Kingdom has always produced its Toyota Corollas since 1997 in Burnaston, Derbyshire, except for the years between 2007 and 2019.

Even in those years, Toyota U.K. did not actually stop producing the Corolla.

All it did was change the name of the model from Corolla to Auris.

The company did this to reflect the similarities Corolla shares with Toyota Yaris and Avensis.

In 2019, Toyota U. K. reversed the name of the Auris back to Corolla in the form of the E210.

Is Toyota Planning to Move Its Production?

The company hasn’t made public any plans to move production of the Corolla to other countries or plants at the moment.

Toyota has not moved production of the Corolla from any factory since 2017.

The last time it moved was in 2017 when the company shifted production of the Corolla sedan from Mexico to the factory it shares with Mazda in Huntsville, Alabama.

Toyota also transferred the production of made-in-Canada Corollas from Ontario, Canada, to Mexico in 2015.

Is Toyota Hiring or Firing in the U.S.?

Currently, Toyota is neither firing nor hiring in the U.S.A. Rather, the company intends to reduce the pay of 5,000 factory workers hired by temp agencies.

The company made this decision considering the drastic drop in sales.

In Europe and Asia, Toyota shut down some of its factories to help finance the manufacture of medical supplies.