Toyota Motors Philippines, Toyota Motor Thailand and P.T. Toyota Astra Motor of Indonesia have all released a new 2.0-litre variant for the Corolla Altis.
The new 2.0-litre Corolla Altis spots a new "sporty" mesh grille, new 2.0-litre Dual VVT-i engine (previously only available in ASEAN markets in the Camry 3.5), paddle shifters, Smart Entry with push-start ignition button, rain sensing intermittent wipers and HID headlamps.
In Indonesia, the new Altis 2.0V replaces the Altis 1.8V while in Philippines, all 1.8-litre variants of the Altis have been discontinued. Only the 1.6-litre variants remain. However in Thailand, all three engine options are still available, with the 1.6-litre mainly targetted at fleet taxi market.
The Altis 2.0 is powered by the 3ZR-FE engine that also powers the Voxy and Noah in Japan. All ASEAN market Corolla Altis are manufactured in Toyota Motor Thailand's Gateway plant in Chachoengsao province, Thailand. White is also said to be a new colour option but its availability at local markets depends on the local distributor. Philippines took the new Super White II colour option while Indonesia did not.
Within the major ASEAN markets, Singapore and Malaysia have yet to launch the 2.0 Altis but they are expected to do so between now and early 2010. If you wondering if the coming 2009 facelift Camry 2.0 and 2.4 will feature Dual VVT-i, the short answer is no, judging from the Camry facelift that was launched in China early this year. It is very uncommon for Japanese car makers to replace one engine with another similarly sized unit midway in the vehicle's model life cycle. This is done not just because of production cost concerns but also to simplify after-sales support processes and parts stocking.
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