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Why the Toyota Corolla is the greatest nameplate in Kenya
Toyota Motors works with the Corolla makes the stuff for a perfect love story. Once she was discovered- it got better with age.
Last year, I sat in a panel that judged and awarded the Toyota Corolla the car of the year 2009 (Kenya). The Publisher of the magazine that gave these awards however was space strained and limited our justification to a judgment of just 300 words: Obviously, not enough for a car with such a splendid legacy!
300 words sounded limiting especially after rigorous tests drive that reviewed handling, acceleration, braking, and stability on the road among other handling dynamics, which revealed just how majestic the new Toyota Corolla was. We have Benda Kithaka, then Marketing Manager of Toyota East Africa to thank for this.
The Corolla is no doubt Kenya’s greatest nameplate. This is how I will describe its legacy.
As I grew up on the slopes of Mt. Kenya, this was the car our village pastor used to rush us, the neighborhood kids, to the general hospital when we got sick at ungodly hours of the night. God bless his soul, he helped many of us survive. Not many people had cars those days and in our location, there were just two: the chief's blue Chevrolet LUV pick-up (they no longer make those) and the pastor’s white E50 third generation Corolla (they also stopped making these ones in the 80’s).
When ten years later, the headmaster decided that walking home alongside his pupils was no longer a welcome idea; he bought the village's third car and you guessed it: the model was Toyota Corolla.
And thus the village people came to know that the word "Corolla" was the other name for "car". Unlike today, when boys in the same village can distinguish between a Corolla "NZE" and the tenth generation "ZZE".
Variously described as the “perfect family sedan” and a “nimble run-about saloon”, the Corolla (which in Latin means “crown”) keeps the record for the global best selling car of all time in the world’s automotive history. So popular is the model that in 2007, global sales for the Corolla tallied a whooping 35 million units. Effectively, there was a Corolla being sold every minute! This is surely not your usual stuff and it takes more than crafty advertising to get here. Astonished by their own performance, Toyota’s PR machinery rightfully started making claim that the “car ahead is always a Toyota”; much to the chagrin of General Motors and Nissan.
The Corolla’s love affair with Kenya started in the 1960’s. Unlike many models that never made it into the 21st century, each of the ten generations of the Corolla left an indelible mark on our roads. The Indian dukawallas of the 70’s loved the swiftness of the 1100cc rear wheel drive E-20. All way through to 1987 when the aerodynamic 6th generation E90 was launched which debuted front wheel drive, the Toyota Corolla Levin was the cutest car on the road. In mid 1987, for instance, renowned Safari rally driver Ian Duncan had a successful affair with the Toyota Corolla.
A Toyota Celica twin cam turbo helped him win the 1987 national Motor Sportsman of Year award. A decade later, in 1995, Yoshio Fujimoto, a Jap, and his navigator Arne Hertz steered a Toyota Celica turbo 4wd to victory sealing a showcase of Toyota’s race engineering in East Africa.
In East Africa, the E140 available in four trims: base, LE, and the XLE. Base models are reasonably well-equipped but lack power accessories, which the LE model adds. The S model has only the base model's convenience features as standard but gains refined sporty touches. The XLE is the most luxurious Corolla now with additional featured like a sports suspension.
Fuel economy has always been a Corolla’s hallmark. To this end, all Corollas employ either the updated version of Toyota's venerable 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, which is renowned for its efficiency. This makes the current Corolla a hair faster than its predecessor and also return good maths on liter to mileage.
In the new series of Corolla, Toyota has made it their aim to please the consumer with a smooth ride quality and a quiet cabin with notable new standard features including electric windows and airbags. I have made it my goal to drive all versions and apart from that weird base model which I found to have significantly low inspiration, the Corolla’s handling is superb!
Why the Toyota Corolla is the greatest nameplate in Kenya
Toyota Motors works with the Corolla makes the stuff for a perfect love story. Once she was discovered- it got better with age.
300 words sounded limiting especially after rigorous tests drive that reviewed handling, acceleration, braking, and stability on the road among other handling dynamics, which revealed just how majestic the new Toyota Corolla was. We have Benda Kithaka, then Marketing Manager of Toyota East Africa to thank for this.
The Corolla is no doubt Kenya’s greatest nameplate. This is how I will describe its legacy.
As I grew up on the slopes of Mt. Kenya, this was the car our village pastor used to rush us, the neighborhood kids, to the general hospital when we got sick at ungodly hours of the night. God bless his soul, he helped many of us survive. Not many people had cars those days and in our location, there were just two: the chief's blue Chevrolet LUV pick-up (they no longer make those) and the pastor’s white E50 third generation Corolla (they also stopped making these ones in the 80’s).
When ten years later, the headmaster decided that walking home alongside his pupils was no longer a welcome idea; he bought the village's third car and you guessed it: the model was Toyota Corolla.
And thus the village people came to know that the word "Corolla" was the other name for "car". Unlike today, when boys in the same village can distinguish between a Corolla "NZE" and the tenth generation "ZZE".
Variously described as the “perfect family sedan” and a “nimble run-about saloon”, the Corolla (which in Latin means “crown”) keeps the record for the global best selling car of all time in the world’s automotive history. So popular is the model that in 2007, global sales for the Corolla tallied a whooping 35 million units. Effectively, there was a Corolla being sold every minute! This is surely not your usual stuff and it takes more than crafty advertising to get here. Astonished by their own performance, Toyota’s PR machinery rightfully started making claim that the “car ahead is always a Toyota”; much to the chagrin of General Motors and Nissan.
The Corolla’s love affair with Kenya started in the 1960’s. Unlike many models that never made it into the 21st century, each of the ten generations of the Corolla left an indelible mark on our roads. The Indian dukawallas of the 70’s loved the swiftness of the 1100cc rear wheel drive E-20. All way through to 1987 when the aerodynamic 6th generation E90 was launched which debuted front wheel drive, the Toyota Corolla Levin was the cutest car on the road. In mid 1987, for instance, renowned Safari rally driver Ian Duncan had a successful affair with the Toyota Corolla.
A Toyota Celica twin cam turbo helped him win the 1987 national Motor Sportsman of Year award. A decade later, in 1995, Yoshio Fujimoto, a Jap, and his navigator Arne Hertz steered a Toyota Celica turbo 4wd to victory sealing a showcase of Toyota’s race engineering in East Africa.
The Corolla would not stop there. It would move on to colonize the roads with the 7th generation Corolla E 100 featuring a fuel efficient electronic fuel injected- all-aluminum engine that made it light and swift. This car became a win. It soon became the most common car model in the Taxi business.
Whereas the eighth generation Corolla (E110) and the Ninth Generation (E120 and E130) brought significant changes to the cabin design , fuel economy with Toyota’s newly developed Variated Valve Timing (VVTi) technology improved.
Whereas the eighth generation Corolla (E110) and the Ninth Generation (E120 and E130) brought significant changes to the cabin design , fuel economy with Toyota’s newly developed Variated Valve Timing (VVTi) technology improved.
In East Africa, the E140 available in four trims: base, LE, and the XLE. Base models are reasonably well-equipped but lack power accessories, which the LE model adds. The S model has only the base model's convenience features as standard but gains refined sporty touches. The XLE is the most luxurious Corolla now with additional featured like a sports suspension.
Fuel economy has always been a Corolla’s hallmark. To this end, all Corollas employ either the updated version of Toyota's venerable 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, which is renowned for its efficiency. This makes the current Corolla a hair faster than its predecessor and also return good maths on liter to mileage.
In the new series of Corolla, Toyota has made it their aim to please the consumer with a smooth ride quality and a quiet cabin with notable new standard features including electric windows and airbags. I have made it my goal to drive all versions and apart from that weird base model which I found to have significantly low inspiration, the Corolla’s handling is superb!
Great post. This is really good. Thanks for sharing this information. Keep sharing.
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