Toyota Reportedly to Build Next Corolla in China

Toyota plans to start building the next-generation Corolla in China in 2028, including a fully electric version, through its joint venture FAW Toyota Motor, Japanese business daily Nikkei reported, according to Electrek on 19 October 2026. Toyota has not confirmed the plan, and TSN found no company statement. If it goes ahead, the world’s best-known affordable car would be partly built in China for the first time on a platform designed for electric, hybrid and petrol power.

The report matters beyond one model. The Corolla is Toyota’s best seller, with more than 57 million sold since 1966, Electrek says. Moving its next generation onto a flexible platform and building it with a Chinese state-owned partner would signal how hard Toyota is pushing to compete with Chinese carmakers on cost and speed.

In brief

Nikkei reports, via Electrek, that Toyota will begin producing the next-gen Corolla in 2028 through FAW Toyota, its joint venture with state-owned FAW Group.
It would be the first Corolla on Toyota’s “multipathway” platform, which supports electric, hybrid, petrol and other powertrains.
Toyota has made no statement on the report and has not released battery, range, powertrain or pricing details.

What Nikkei reports

According to Nikkei’s report as relayed by Electrek, production of the new Corolla would begin in 2028 at FAW Toyota Motor, the joint venture between Toyota and China’s state-owned FAW Group. The car would be the first Corolla to use Toyota’s multipathway platform, which Electrek says Toyota already uses for several models, including some under its Lexus brand.

Building in China is expected to help Toyota cut costs and speed up development and output, Electrek says. The report does not say how many cars would be built there, whether production would also happen elsewhere, or which markets the China-built cars would serve. Whether the Corolla EV will come to the US also remains unclear, according to Electrek.

The concept Toyota has already shown

Toyota itself has shown where the car is heading. It revealed a Corolla Concept at the Japan Mobility Show almost a year ago, and CEO Koji Sato said then that the Corolla would remain “a car for everyone”, offered with several powertrains. “Whether it’s a battery EV, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, or internal combustion engine vehicle―whatever the power source―let’s make good-looking cars that everyone will want to drive!” he said.

Electrek also points to comments by chairman Akio Toyoda in a July interview with NHK, in which he warned that the company must adapt or “it cannot survive” amid competition and technology from China. The same broadcast showed several Corolla Concept body styles in the background at the development site.

Some specifications are circulating, but they are not Toyota’s. Electrek says the EV is expected to offer at least 250 miles of range, and Car and Driver has estimated starting prices of about $25,000 for petrol, $27,000 for the hybrid and around $30,000 for EV and plug-in versions. Those are the outlets’ estimates; Toyota has published none of these figures.

Toyota’s pressure in China

The timing fits a difficult stretch in China. Electrek reports that Toyota’s sales there fell 23%, a seventh straight monthly decline, as demand for petrol and hybrid models weakened. It also says Toyota is restructuring its two Chinese joint ventures, FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota, and plans to build extended-range EVs under Lexus in China from next year.

Our read

If Nikkei is right, this is a notable shift: Toyota’s most important mass-market nameplate would lean on a Chinese joint venture and a multi-powertrain platform to stay price-competitive. Until Toyota confirms it, though, the 2028 China plan is a report, and the range and price figures are guesses. The next test is the production Corolla’s debut, which Electrek expects in 2027, and whether Toyota says where it will be built.

How we sourced this

The 2028 China production plan comes from Nikkei, as reported by Electrek; TSN has not read the original Nikkei article and found no Toyota statement.
Range and price figures are Electrek and Car and Driver estimates, not Toyota data.