Toyota introduced the Corolla name for its compact car in Japan in 1966.
Toyota developed the Corolla as a family car positioned below the company’s larger models. The first-generation Corolla went on sale in Japan in 1966 and combined a compact body with features intended to appeal to a broad middle-class market, including a four-speed transmission and a relatively spacious interior for its size.
The name “Corolla” is Latin for a small crown or wreath. It followed Toyota’s practice of using names associated with crowns, which also appears in models such as the Crown and Corona. The Corolla’s combination of affordability, reliability, and practical size helped it spread rapidly beyond Japan.
Toyota exported the model to international markets, where body styles and engines varied. The Corolla became one of the world’s best-selling automobile nameplates, but production totals and rankings depend on how Toyota counts generations and related vehicles.