The car above may look familiar to you, you probably have already seen it when a Japanese magazine carried scans of the new Toyota Corolla as well as the Toyota Auris hatchback which replaces the Corolla hatch. No longer do you have to look for artists impressions based on leaked data  or leaked photos because Toyota has officially launched the new JDM 2007 Toyota Corolla in Japan! Details after the jump.

While the Corolla gets called the Auris in Europe, in Japan the Corolla nameplate stays  with the suffix Axio used for the sedan and Fielder for the stationwagon model. Previous reports of the new JDM Toyota Corollas measurements being 4450mm x 1690mm x 1470mm were inaccurate  the actual measurements in the production car is 4,410mm x 1,695mm x 1,460mm, which is shorter in both terms of length and height, but wider. However, the new JDM Corolla is still smaller than the Toyota Corolla Altis currently on our market, which measures 4530mm x 1705mm x 1480mm. These are exterior dimensions of course, we cant really measure interior roominess this way.

There are two engine variants  a lower end 2NZFE 1.5 liter VVTi putting out 110PS at 6,000rpm and 140Nm of torque at 4,400rpm, similiar to the Toyota Vios. The higherend model comes with the new 2ZRFE DualVVTi engine, with 1.8 liters of displacement producing 136PS at 6,000rpm and 175Nm of torque at 4,400rpm. Compared to Hondas current flagship 1.8 liter the R18A1, Toyotas new engine beats it by 1Nm of peak torque, but loses in terms of horsepower, which is pretty amazing for Honda since the Honda unit is a SOHC while this new Toyota is a DOHC unit. Hondas torque also peaks 100rpm lower than the Toyota unit. And these figures are for the 2WD models that come in either a Super CVTi continuously variable transmission or a 5speed manual. As for the 4WD SuperCVTi units, for some reason oblivious to me right now the 1.5 liter makes less power at 105PS, and the 1.8 liter only makes 125PS. Torque figures are 135Nm at 4,400rpm and 163Nm at 4,400rpm respectively. While the worth of a car is not to be measured by its engine alone, Honda seems to have a slight edge on engine technology here. But the new JDM Corolla is packed with nice features which you will read about further down.

Anyway, this will not be the Toyota Corolla that will find its way onto our local shores, well likely have to wait until next year to catch a glimpse of that. There is a new Toyota Corolla Altis (also the USDM Corolla) replacement in works, based on the Toyota Auris model instead of this one.

Oh, before I end this blog post, heres a funky feature. All Corolla Axio sedan models have a reverse camera as a standard feature, which outputs video to the LCD screen integrated into the center dash. There is also an optional advanced Intelligent Parking Assist system controls steering during parallel parking and backing into a parking space through the help of ultrasonic sensors installed on the vehicle that detect other parked vehicles.

Reversing into parking bays is made easy with…

… a reverse camera!

Four different interior dash trims, two with grey seats and two with cream seats.

This is the Toyota Corolla Axio sedan interior, the steering wheel and other little details is different from the Fielders. The Axio has a 4spoke steering.

As I mentioned earlier, the Corolla Fielder has a more sporty 3spoke steering wheel.

From this image, it appears that the Corolla Fielders rear seats can be reclined.