Road & Track recently visited the UK factory just as the first US-bound cars rolled off the assembly line. The good news? Buyers shouldn't notice any difference...
Over the decades, many iconic British-built performance cars have graced our roads, spanning the alphabet from Aston Martin to Zenos. Now, there's a new entry on that prestigious list, though it proudly wears the badge of the world’s most successful automaker. For the 2026 model year, production of Toyota GR Corollas destined for the US market has been relocated to Toyota’s Burnaston factory near Derby in the English Midlands.
Ironically, for UK residents, there’s a bittersweet twist: While the GR Corolla will be built in the UK, it won't be sold there. Instead, Burnaston's entire GR production run is earmarked for North America. Other global markets will continue to receive GR Corollas manufactured at Toyota’s Motomachi plant in Japan. Meanwhile, European enthusiasts will have to make do with the limited numbers of the smaller GR Yaris available on the continent.
Several factors are driving this change in GR Corolla production. Officially, Toyota states the move will help "optimize its global production footprint to produce and deliver vehicles to customers as quickly as possible." The Burnaston plant is expected to produce around 10,000 GR Corollas annually, a volume designed to meet US demand. A significant secondary incentive, though reportedly decided after the initial production switch, is that cars manufactured in the UK face lower tariffs when imported into the US compared to those from Japan (or other European countries)—currently a 10 percent tariff for the first 100,000 cars in any given year.
“For the customer, there should be no change at all,” confirmed Naohiko Saito, Gazoo Racing’s chief engineer, during a visit to the Burnaston plant to inspect the new production line.
View Price on AmazonOfficially known as Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK, the Burnaston facility was among several plants opened by Japanese automakers in the UK during the 1980s. Their primary goal was to secure lower-tariff access to European markets. (For context, Nissan also operates one of Europe’s busiest car factories in Sunderland, and Honda previously had a plant in Swindon that ceased operations in 2021.) Before the GR Corolla’s arrival, Burnaston exclusively produced mainstream models that weren't typically designed to excite enthusiasts. Most of the plant currently focuses on building hybrid versions of the standard European-spec Corolla.
The GR Corolla is being produced on a dedicated line within the factory, a setup that underscores the significant differences between the regular Corolla and the high-performance GR Racing version. The most apparent distinction is the GR’s three-cylinder turbocharged 1.5-liter engine, which is still manufactured in Japan. However, the GR Corolla also features modified body panels to accommodate its carbon fiber roof and aggressive body kit.
Equally critical is the meticulous attention paid to the GR Corolla's assembly process, which involves significantly more hands-on work than the standard car. To that end, the GR’s body shell is precisely lowered onto the subframes carrying its engine, transmission, and rear axle—a method reportedly more accurate than the typical procedure of lifting components onto a raised body shell. Another example of this precision is setting the front suspension strut's geometry to the hub mounting using a special jig before it’s even installed on the vehicle.
While many components are similar to those found in the regular Corolla, the GR version boasts significantly higher accuracy in its assembly. For instance, the mainstream car's alignment has a tolerance of 0.75 degrees, but for the GR, the target tolerance is a mere 0.25 degrees, with most vehicles reportedly achieving 0.05 degrees of accuracy. Observing workers meticulously use a torque wrench to set the wheel nuts before a new GR drove off the line clearly underscored this dedication to precision.
While the GR Corolla may not qualify as a hand-built British sports car, it's clear it receives significant care and attention, especially given its relative affordability. Toyota states that the regular Corolla assembly line at Burnaston has a “cycle time” of 142 seconds, which is the time it takes for each car to pass a specific stage of production.
Source: roadandtrack.com
