Toyota Levin

Events like international car shows are important in many ways, but two of them are particularly interesting. The most obvious is being an opportunity for showing what has this industry done in the recent months and, specially, what can be expected from it in the next few years. The other is that everything from the previous phrase is done both for the global industry and for the regional branch whose country is hosting the event. The reason why this article’s car has taken so much attention in Beijing is an example of how different those two can be.

Behaving so much like a black hole for vehicles turned the Chinese market the center of an obsession for most automakers, but who can blame them? When you know a place where pretty much everything you offer gets sold, regardless of how good it is, you drop everything else and only get a rest after making sure that there’s a share of that money coming for you. And this is what has moved companies from the entire world towards that country, whether with local production or only importing. Gordon Gekko’s timeless saying has been applied so strongly that some automakers went beyond the point of creating new models exclusively for there: they don’t even care anymore if they end competing with themselves.

For those who can already sniff where this is going to, yes: Bora and Lavida’s situation is happening once again. Since Toyota’s Chinese operations are held by two joint-ventures, just like Volkswagen’s, it was only a matter of time for them to want each one a more complete lineup. This is the reason why Corolla’s latest generation will reach that market in two different presentations: while FAW-Toyota will produce the European model, Guangqi-Toyota got to debut a whole new variation, which takes this counting to three considering the North-American sibling. Naming it Levin aids to the intention of focusing on younger, informal customers, while the traditional Corolla stays dedicated to older, householder drivers.

But the images don’t take long to prove Levin has much more to show, even though they are disappointingly few. The new sedan is nothing but the interpretation of the Furia concept which everyone was really looking for. The sides didn’t change much from the others, but both front and rear remind very much of the yellow prototype. The reason why they look so good is having found a great proportion between sportiness and elegance for a mid-size sedan – which anyone who knows a few cars will agree it’s not easy. Elements like lights and grilles stayed small in order to divide the attention with the sheetmetal, whose sporty shapes present a very creative way of escaping from the limousine-wannabe feeling that haunts some of its direct competitors.

Entering the car leads to think Guangqi-Toyota spent its entire budget on the outside. Most of the room is shared with Corolla, but this isn’t such a bad thing because it would make no sense to spend so much money on a model which won’t stop being essentially a restyled Corolla. However, there should be some measure changes because Levin’s exclusive sheetmetal made it taller than both Corollas and between them in length. When it comes to the powertrain, the expected options are a 120-hp 1.6L and a 138-hp 1.8L engines, both paired to five-speed manual or CVT transmissions. This vehicle is expected to hit the streets in July 28th, but you should only get excited with this if you live in China: Levin isn’t expected to be sold anywhere else.