While we wait for Toyota Motor Corporation to officially confirm it has reclaimed the global sales crown for the sixth consecutive year, the numbers from Toyota Motor North America are already doing the heavy lifting. In the United States alone, the brand shifted 2.518 million units, an 8% jump that proves Americans still have a massive appetite for Japanese engineering.
Leading the charge, the RAV4 moved 479,000 units, while the venerable Camry and the unstoppable Tacoma (which saw a ridiculous 43% surge) kept the registers ringing.However, even a king can look a bit dusty. The Toyota Corolla remains a powerhouse with 248,000 units sold.
The twelfth generation Corolla has been around since 2018. While it received a tiny “blink-and-you-miss-it” refresh in 2023, the design is starting to feel as vintage as a flip phone. Although a second restyling debuted at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November 2025, Toyota has remained suspiciously quiet about bringing those updates to international markets.
Enter the world of vehicular CGI, where Brazilian virtual artist Kleber Silva (known as KDesign AG) has decided that if Toyota won’t innovate, he will. His vision for the 2027 Toyota Corolla for the American and LATAM markets isn’t just a facelift. It’s a full-blown personality transplant. Taking cues from the sleek new Camry and the electric bZ4X crossover, Silva’s render features a bold “hammerhead” front end that actually looks like it belongs in this decade.
The digital concept boasts a honeycomb grille relocated to the bumper, modern LED headlights, and sporty two-tone Y-spoke alloy wheels. Around the back, the transformation continues with a full-width LED light bar, a trunk spoiler, and a glossy black aero-diffuser with dual exhaust tips. It’s a “more presence” approach that turns a sensible commuter car into something you might actually want to be seen in.
Whether Toyota takes the hint from the digital world remains to be seen, but with the competition heating up, the world’s favorite compact sedan can’t survive on its 2018 laurels forever.
