This review appeared in the Nelson Mail January 17th and comes from the Stuff Website: written by motoring writer Rob Maetzig, using our own photos.
OK, let's get this out of the way first - the new Toyota Corolla Levin is not named after the capital of Horowhenua, even though the town is just a few kilometres south of Toyota New Zealand's head office in Palmerston North.
And anyway, if the car was named after the town of Levin it would probably have to be pronounced Levene, because apparently that was the preferred pronounciation by the family of William Levin, a director of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company after whom the town is named.
But if that happened, people would probably get all confused over whether they were buying a car or a tin of paint ...
Seriously though, in the case of the new 11th generation Toyota Corolla, the Levin badging is the revival of a name that was attached to some sporty Corollas that began to be produced from 1970. It's actually an Old English word that translates to "lightning".
None of these Levins was ever sold new in New Zealand, so the fact that two Levin models - SX and ZR - are included in the new range makes rather good marketing sense.