The new Toyota Corolla sedan – which was revealed in mid-November 2018 – will reportedly not be produced in South Africa.

According to Engineering News, the twelfth-generation Corolla will be imported into South Africa rather than built at the brand’s Prospecton plant in KwaZulu-Natal.

“The next-generation Corolla will not be manufactured locally, but will be imported as a completely built up product,” Toyota SA told the publication, adding that it was “grateful to the South African market for having made the Corolla the most popular passenger model over the years”.

As the folks over at Engineering News point out, the Corolla has been built in South Africa for the past 43 years, with more than a million examples sold locally in that time.

Interestingly, however, Toyota SA told the publication it would continue to build the outgoing version of the Corolla. It’s not yet clear whether the prolonged lifecycle Corolla Quest would also still be produced or whether it would be supplanted by the outgoing model.

Of course, the Japanese brand’s local arm also builds the Hilux, Fortuner and Quantum at its Prospecton facility. A report from August 2018, meanwhile, suggested Toyota SA was “investigating” the possibility of building a “more affordable” car in Durban.

The new Corolla hatchback (formerly known as the Auris) is destined to launch locally in February 2019, with the sedan expected to follow in 2020.

Original article from Car