The stunning NEW Toyota Corolla Altis

Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has launched a new version of the Toyota Corolla Altis on June 16.

Beside cosmetic changes there has been some impressive work done under the hood as well.

Let's see how the Corolla evolved, what the new Toyota Corolla Altis has to offer in comparison with the old one and whether the new Altis is capable enough to set in tremours in its segment.

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Toyota Corolla Altis from 1966 to 2011

Toyota Corolla Altis first appeared in 1966 in Japan as the people's car.

The first generation Corolla cars were an outstanding hit.

Through the years, the Corolla evolved both in shape as well as in terms of power and performance.

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The most significant change came in 2003 when the Corolla entered into its ninth generation.

At this time it introduced major changes in the compact sedan category.

Till then Toyota had sold over 3 crore (30 million) Corollas in over 150 countries and it became the world's highest selling car.

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It was in 2008 that the Toyota Corolla entered its tenth generation.

After continuing with the same looks for almost three years, Toyota introduced a face lifted version on June 16, 2011 with the tagline 'Genius inside, Gorgeous outside'.

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New Toyota Corolla Altis

The new Altis has a more powerful petrol engine and has a new transmission.

It also has new front bumpers, front grille and rear bumper besides two new fog lamps at the front.

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The head lamps and tail lamps have also been reworked.

The new Altis now has alloy wheels, turn indicators on outside rear view mirrors.

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The Altis has a new steering wheel, beautiful color combination for interiors.

Now the Altis has a start/stop push button in the car.

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The 1794cc petrol engine has been upgraded by 4cc to make it 1798cc.

However, the real difference between the existing and the new Altis 2ZR Dual VVT-i engine is the advanced Dual VVT-i system that has two separate variable timing mechanisms for the exhaust and the intake valves.

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With the dual VVT-i mechanism in place, the new Altis churns out 140PS @ 6400 rpm and up to 173Nm of torque.

That means more power, high fuel efficiency and low emissions.

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New transmission

The new Altis also has two new transmission options that replace the 5-speed manual transmission in the petrol Corolla Altis.

Tere is a new 6-speed manual and the other Super CVT-i with 7-speed sequential shiftmatic for the top-end petrol version.

The diesel version however, will have the same 6-speed manual gearbox.

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Fuel efficiency

With the more powerful, efficient and low smoke engine in the new Corolla Altis it certainly be fuel efficient.

According to ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India), the petrol version of the Altis delivers 15.22 kmpl while the diesel Altis offers 21.45 kmpl mileage.

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The new Altis is available in seven variants, Altis Petrol J, Altis Petrol G, Altis Petrol GL, Altis Petrol VL (Automatic) and New Corolla Altis Diesel J, Altis Diesel G, and Altis Diesel GL.

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New price

The Toyota Corolla price starts at Rs 10.53 lakh (Rs 1.05 million) and goes up to Rs14.77 lakh (Rs 1.47 million) while the diesel car starts at Rs 11.46 lakh (Rs 1.14 million) and goes up to Rs 14.55 lakh (Rs 1.45 million) for the high end diesel variant.

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New Toyota Corolla Altis competitors

Among the ones that the new Altis will have to compete in the premium sedan segment in India are Skoda Laura, Volkswagen Jetta, Honda civic, Chevrolet Cruze and recently launched Renault Fluence.

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Among these Volkswagen Jetta's 2011 version is expected soon while Renault is on an aggressive campaign to promote its brand and its first sedan offering Renault Fluence.

If we do a price comparison, Toyota Corolla Altis' petrol variant is cheaper than Honda Civic, Skoda Laura and it is sure to offer good option to the buyers in this segment.