RUMOR: A Toyota GR Corolla Sedan Is In The Works

After months of incessant teasers, Toyota finally unveiled the 2023 GR Corolla. Fans of the brand were overjoyed when the company confirmed the hot hatch will be traveling stateside - unlike the smaller GR Yaris. Recently, the brand announced the advent of an even more hardcore variation known as the Morizo Edition.

If that's not enough to make performance car lovers salivate, the latest rumor out of Japan may just succeed. As per the Japanese publication goo-net.com, Toyota is reportedly working on a sedan variant of the Corolla GR. While this is yet to be confirmed by the Tokyo-based brand, the possibility of a four-door GR has us overjoyed.

The report suggests the GR Corolla Sedan will be aimed squarely at the American market, where the body style still sells remarkably well for Toyota. However, it's not as straightforward as it seems. The creation of a hotted-up Corolla sedan would pose several challenges to engineers.

Japanese Corolla sedans are exclusive to their home market. The JDM variant shares the same wheelbase with its five-door sibling; Corolla's sold in other markets (including America) are longer by as much as 2.36 inches. What's more, the sedan is narrower than the hatch which could throw a bevy of engineering complications at designers.

As such, the Japanese news agency reports that there's a "high possibility" it will adopt the larger body from the larger North American model.

Despite no official announcement from Toyota, the publication is confident that the sedan will make its debut as soon as 2023. If this rumor turns out to be true, the GR Corolla Sedan would effectively fill a gap left behind by the WRX STI. Much to the chagrin of enthusiasts, Subaru has said a new STI wouldn't make much sense in the face of fast-changing regulations.

As a reminder, the hottest Corolla yet is powered by a turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder with 300 horsepower on tap. As if that wasn't enough, Toyota has taken an old-school approach, sending this substantial chunk of power to all four wheels via a delightful six-speed manual gearbox.

In other markets, the Corolla is sold as a rather handsome wagon. Even though the buying public is falling out of love with the long roof, the render (seen above) of a GR Corolla wagon would most certainly go down a treat - especially if sold in limited numbers.