Toyota Corolla Hybrid’s most expensive model grade axed

Buyers of Australia's top-selling small car – the 2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid – will now have one less choice on the showroom floor.

The most expensive Corolla without a GR badge – the flagship ZR hybrid sedan – will be culled for July 2025 production due to slow sales, with order books already closed.

It accounted for just 2 per cent of Corolla sedan sales – a model which went hybrid-only in mid-2024 – with the body style accounting for only 30 per cent of deliveries of Toyota's small car last year (7171 out of 24,027 vehicles).

Priced from $40,260 plus on-road costs, the ZR sedan was the most expensive Corolla Hybrid, $1160 dearer than the ZR hatch ($39,100) and $5340 more than the SX sedan – both of which will continue unchanged.

ZR exclusive features include 18-inch wheels, bi-LED headlights, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, synthetic leather-look seat accents, a head-up display, heated front sports seats, a power-adjustable driver's seat, JBL audio, and ambient interior lighting.

Unique to the ZR hybrid sedan over the hatch is a different front seat design, cloth seat inserts rather than suede, nine speakers rather than eight, single-zone rather than dual-zone climate control, a space-saver spare wheel rather than a tyre repair kit, and a sunroof.

No Toyota Corolla sedan sold in Australia is fitted with the hatchback's parking sensors, folding mirrors and front fog lights, while no remaining Corolla variant is equipped with a sunroof.

Hybrid power was made standard across the non-GR Toyota Corolla range last year, all regular variants now developing 103kW from a 1.8-litre engine and electric motor.

The current-generation Corolla is believed to be in the twilight of its life – after a 2018 introduction for the hatch, followed by the sedan in 2019 – ahead of a new model due in the next two years.

• Corolla Ascent Sport hatch hybrid auto – $32,110
• Corolla Ascent Sport sedan hybrid auto – $32,320
• Corolla SX hatch hybrid auto – $35,260
• Corolla SX sedan hybrid auto – $34,920
• Corolla ZR hatch hybrid auto – $39,100
• Corolla ZR sedan hybrid auto – $40,260, deleted from July 2025 production
• GR Corolla GTS manual – $67,990
• GR Corolla GTS auto – $70,490

Note: All prices exclude on-road costs.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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