Toyota Gave Its Most Common Car A Finish Worth Showing Off For 2026

In October, Toyota unveiled a dramatic Corolla concept previewing what the popular model could morph into. Sadly, we’ll have to wait some time before it spawns a production model, as the current 12th-generation car isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it has just been updated for the 2026 model year in Europe.

The biggest change this time around is all about paint. For the first time, Toyota is offering the GR Sport and Touring Sports versions of the Corolla in a matte Onyx Grey finish.

It marks the company’s first use of this color on a high-volume production model, arriving in the UK before the end of the year and rolling out to other European markets shortly after

Read: Toyota Improves 2026 GR Corolla With A Clever Trick

A second new color has also been introduced for 2026. Dubbed Storm Grey, it’s a metallic shade that looks to suit the Corolla quite nicely, in both sedan and hatchback guises.

Toyota has also made some minor tweaks inside. It has added more of its hard-wearing Samara upholstery, made from recycled materials, to the seatbacks and cushions on the Mid grade and Touring Sports models. The Mid+ Sedan model also includes a distinctive Samara seat design.

No other changes appear to have been made to the Corolla. As such, it continues to be available with 1.8-liter and 2.0-liter hybrids engines. The smaller of these two engines delivers 138 hp while the 2.0-liter is rated at 178 hp.

Curiously, the 2025 model with the 2.0-liter had been listed as delivering 193 hp, and Toyota hasn’t explained why 15 horses have gone missing.

Elsewhere, all 2026 models continue to feature the Toyota Safety Sense package which, alongside the multimedia system, supports over-the-air software updates. Toyota will also continue to sell all variants with a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster as standard, also used by the flagship GR Corolla.