Toyota Corolla joins the hybrid club

AUSTRALIA'S best-selling car, the Toyota Corolla, will be available as a hybrid hatchback by the middle of this year.

It will produce similar power to the petrol-only Corolla hatch, but Toyota expects it will use around one-third less fuel. It will expand the company's Hybrid Synergy Drive offerings to a fifth model following Prius, Prius c, Prius v and Camry.

In western Europe, hybrid versions of the Corolla hatch (known as Auris there) account for more than 50% of all the model's sales.

Australia's best-selling hybrid vehicle is Toyota's Camry which managed 5881 sales in 2015, an increase of 11% over the previous year.

Prices and full specification of the new Corolla hybrid will be made available closer to its mid-year launch.