Toyota Australia has begun selling the latest version of the Toyota Corolla. Here in Malaysia the Corolla is being affectionately called Altis. I own one and I can attest to Toyota’s reliability claim (touch wood). Malaysians will probably get the same one being sold in Australia. I suspect it will also be branded the Altis again just to maintain continuity.

The car looks sweet. The front looks like the new Camry, handsome and regal. Less ‘uncle’ look like the current Altis.

The back, however resembles the current Altis. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not. Toyota might be trying to please their current Altis users by not deviating too much from a proven design. Plus with the similar look, the current Altis might not drop in value too much when the 2008/2009 is finally available.However, overall I’m kinda underwhelm with the looks of the new Altis. It’s not a revolution like what Honda did to the 8th Generation Civic. It is, as usual, Toyota playing safe with their design. When will Toyota do something radical? When will they release something that will catch the public’s breath?

But one thing for sure, come 2008, my current Altis value will drop like a rock. Sigh…