Toyota sells a lot of automobiles; in fact, the Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all time. The Toyota Corolla has been a quiet performer for the better part of its 56-year existence (with the exception of the AE86), but the recent debut of the Toyota GR Corolla has turned the entire hot hatch market on its head. The 2023 GR Corolla is a 300-horsepower street rally car that follows the release of the insane GR Yaris, an all-wheel-drive city car turned rally champion that fights much beyond its weight class. Because the GR Yaris has been such a success, Toyota is concerned that the GR Corolla may sell out too quickly, and has issued a warning to dealers not to take too many orders.

Because of the high demand for this hot hatch, Toyota America has asked dealers in some locations to halt processing orders. In a recent interview with Road & Track, Jack Hollis, senior vice president of automotive operations at Toyota Motor North America, remarked, "We have regions right now, and portions of the country where there are so many orders being accepted, we have to halt." The GR Corolla is hand-built in Toyota's Motomachi factory in Japan, and just 6,500 of these limited-edition vehicles will be produced for the 2023 model year. After 2023, Toyota intends to reduce production to 8,000 vehicles. As a result, it's understandable if retailers run out of stock in the blink of an eye.

When Toyota announced that the GR Yaris would not be sold in the United States, it nearly sparked a riot, and the current news is likely to do the same, but Hollis expressed optimism in a recent interview with R&T. "Every GR product, including the Yaris, Corolla, 86, and Supra, comes from this GR family or firm. So when you say, "Did we think about the GR Yaris?" we mean anything. It's just that we knew the GR Corolla would be a good fit for our market... It's not that the GR Yaris couldn't come here; it's just that we made a promise to the GR Corolla."

Demand appears to be higher towards the coast, but the good news is that automobiles are still available, albeit you'll have a hard time finding one without a hefty markup.

The GR Corolla will be released in the United States later in 2022, and with it should come further pricing information.