The Toyota Corona is an automobile manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota through eleven generations between 1957 and 2001. It was replaced in Japan by the Toyota Premio, It was replaced in Europe by the Toyota Avensis and it was replaced in Asia-Pacific/Americas by the Toyota Camry. It was related to Toyota Mark II and Toyota Carina. Traditionally, the competitor from Datsun/Nissan was the Datsun/Nissan Bluebird. The word “corona“ is Latin for “crown”, a reference to an earlier vehicle Toyota offered called the Toyota Crown. It was exclusive to Toyopet Store dealership channels in Japan, while the larger Crown was available only at Toyota Store locations.
In many countries, the Corona was one of Toyota’s first international export models, and was shortly joined by the smaller Toyota Corolla, providing buyers with a choice of a larger car, with similar operating expenses to the smaller Corolla. The Corona was Toyota’s second sedan in their hierarchy of products, just below the Crown, until 1968 when the Corona name was used on a larger, all new platform called the Toyota Corona Mark II, which gave buyers more interior space while still offering dependable, affordable performance.
The Corona became successful in export markets and was marketed under a number of different nameplates worldwide—including those branded in much of Asia as Coronas marketed in European markets as Carinas.