Toyota Corolla: ‘Nothing has been left to chance’ | Martin Love

Quiet, composed and resolutely unshowy" Would you guess this is the world's bestselling car?

Toyota Corolla
Price from 21,305
0-62mph 10.9 seconds
Top speed 124mph
MPG up to 62.7
CO2 from 76g/km

The Toyota Corolla is only a little car, but it bristles with some very big numbers. The biggest of which is that it is the bestselling car on the planet. Another big number is that it also tops the list of the world's all-time bestselling cars, ahead of the classic Ford F-Series pickup and VW's enduring Golf. Since its launch in 1966 more than 44m have been sold. That figure is now out of date (the exact number sold this year has not yet been calculated - maybe the numbers are just too big to keep up with), but it's estimated that Toyota is fast closing in on building its 50 millionth Corolla. The model is so endlessly popular and has been bought in such massive volumes that it's been the world's bestselling car since 1974. As you can imagine, the sales records the Corolla has gathered since then are dizzying, but one that Toyota is particularly proud was achieved in 2015 when the Corolla became the first and only vehicle ever to sell more than 1.3m units in a single year - that's about one every 25 seconds.