Has your family always had a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic? Then why is it so hard for us to afford a similar model now despite having a similar career? It’s not your fault. It’s because of model evolution. We explain why.
For some car enthusiasts who grew up with a particular model of car in their household, it’s beginning to feel like the particular car model the family grew up with is getting further and further out of reach.
For many Filipinos, particularly those that grew up in the 80s and 90s, most likely many have patronized a particular car model over the years. Grew up with a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla as the family car? Chances are, the family has purchased each, if not, every other iteration of the vehicle once every couple of years. After all, if a particular model has endeared itself with the family, why take a risk and change?
Moving out of reach
However, as of late, it’s become a bit more difficult to keep up that family tradition. The Toyota Corolla may have started as the brand’s most affordable model. However, these days, it sits in the middle of the line-up, not quite an entry model, nor is it the most luxurious one on offer. The price has moved up to, starting from just ₱500K in the mid 90s, to ₱1.3M up to ₱1.8M in today’s money, depending on the variant.
The same can be said for models from other brands. The Civic, formerly Honda’s smallest and most affordable model in the 70s, has now moved to the middle of the lineup, with several new, and even smaller models positioned under it.
So are cars getting smaller? Is inflation to blame? Are we earning less? Or are these segments we grew up with, growing up themselves?
The answer is actually, the last. These cars are growing in size, moving up in segment, increasing in price, and they could continue to move up over the next couple of years. They're actually in different segments from where they started.
The best way to confirm this is by physically comparing their size changes over the years. Thankfully, a website called carsized.com makes this all easy.
Case study: Toyota
Let’s start with the humble Toyota Corolla. While the website’s records don’t go as far back as the 1980s, we only need to go back to the 90s-2000s to start seeing the changes. In 1997, Toyota unveiled the E110 Corolla Altis, which we affectionately called the ‘Love Life’ Corolla, owing to the catchy jingle and slogan it was advertised with. It was promoted as a compact sedan, the smallest you could buy at the time, and measured 4.315 meters in length. This was the first time we were introduced to the Altis name, then just a trim level for the new 1.8-liter top-of-the-line model. It was offered from 1997 up until 2001.
By the time the new model (E120, ‘Itlog’) was introduced 2001, it had grown to 4.529 meters in length, a more than 200 cm difference. The new Corolla, now called Corolla Altis for all trim levels, was offered in both 1.6-liter and 1.8-liter engines, in both manual and automatic. However, a base 1.3-liter manual was no longer available. Naturally, the price change was quite high as well. With such a huge leap in size and price, it was evident that this could no longer be the entry level model in Toyota’s lineup.
Nonetheless, this was growth was no mistake, but a move that was carefully planned. In 2002, the Vios model was first introduced. This new sedan would be positioned under the Corolla. It measured 4.285 meters in length, not as large as the old Corolla, but pretty close, being just 30 cm shorter. It came in both 1.3-liter and 1.5-liter engines. Based on the trim levels and price points, it was evident this was to be Toyota’s new entry level model.
In fact, if we compare the current Vios against the ‘Love Life’ Corolla, it’s evident that the current Vios has already exceeded the older Corolla’s dimensions.
And as both the Corolla Altis and Vios grew over the succeeding generations, Toyota introduced yet another new model to slot below the Vios, this time called the Wigo.
The same can be said for Toyota’s SUVs. For the longest time, the RAV4 was the smallest Toyota SUV on offer. The third generation RAV4 (MY2005, XA30) measures 4395 mm, definitely within compact segment territory. However, the new Corolla Cross (MY2020), which was just recently introduced is already larger than this third generation. As you can expect, the current RAV4 has already grown and is already comparable to a Camry in size.
Case study: Honda
The same trend can be seen in competitors from another brand, the Civic and City. Like the Corolla, the Civic started out as Honda’s entry level model in the Philippines. The City was first introduced in the Philippines in 1997, slotting under the current Civic. From then on, the City began to be the new entry level model, until it was moved up by the arrival of the Brio. Today, the Civic is in the middle of the lineup, with the City, and the Brio positioned under it.
If we compare the last generation of the City (MY2014, GM6) to that of a Civic (MY2006, FD), it’s evident that the City is already approaching the size of what the Civic used to be.
For a more dramatic picture of how much these models have grown, we need only look at the first generation CR-V (MY1995, RD), compared to the sixth generation CR-V (MY2022, RS). The original CR-V used to be just 4510 mm long. Now it is 4706 mm long, similar to the length of the older Accords.
Case study: Hyundai
How about vehicles from another country? They have been steadily growing as well. For many buyers, the Hyundai Tucson was a welcome alternative the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. After all, it was competitively priced, similarly sized, and is also a unibody-based crossover SUV.
The second generation Tucson (MY2009, LM) had similar dimensions to the old RAV4 at 4410 mm. However, when compared with Hyundai’s current smallest SUV, the Creta, it doesn’t seem like it’s a class above. After all, the Creta is already 4.3 meters long, just some 100 cm shorter.
Evolution and the Red Queen Theory
So what’s going on? Why are models from a class below suddenly the same size as the previous versions of their bigger brothers / sisters? The answer is because of evolution and competition. With each new generation, the engineers behind these cars are encouraged to make the newer one bigger, more spacious, and more powerful. After all, would you buy a new car that was smaller than its predecessor? Certainly not.
As such, they grow with each generation, sometimes by just a little, sometimes by a lot. Before we know it, these cars have practically moved up a class because of the amount they’ve grown, and there’s suddenly a need to offer a new model to occupy the segment these vehicles used to be in.
This constant evolution is actually called ‘Red Queen Theory’ by evolutionary biologists. The name comes from a quote from the Red Queen character in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. She famously remarked to Alice, “You have to keep running just to stay in place.” That quote is the basis for the name of the theory.
It has its roots in nature because like most animals, these vehicles need to evolve and change with each generation, just like animals trying to maintain their place in the food chain. They have to constantly adapt, evolve, or ‘run,’ to simply keep their place (whether they are predator or prey) in the constantly moving circle of life because all the other animals are evolving too.
With these cars, rather than adapting to their environment, they’re adapting to the demands of the buyer. After all, if these cars didn’t grow in dimensions, performance, and features while all their competitors did, they’d be left behind in the segment. Similar to extinction, in the case of cars, the consequence is being phased out or discontinued.
As such, it should come as no surprise that some of the most resilient car models, that now boast of 5-10 generations, are models that have always grown and upgraded with each generation.
As for the cars that used to be at the top, like the Camry and Accord, their days may be numbered. After all, with the current Corollas and Civics already offering comparable luxury, the sales of these even larger sedans are beginning to dwindle. We just might see them discontinued by the next generation.
Time for the buyer to adapt
For those looking into buying a car today, don’t be dismayed if acquiring a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic just like your parents did seems like an impossibility. If you’re browsing among sedans like the Vios, City or other vehicles in the same segment, you’re doing just fine. If you’re checking out SUVs, the Toyota Corolla Cross is not a downgrade compared to your Dad’s first generation RAV4. In fact, it’s an upgrade as it’s larger, more powerful, and also more efficient than that old RAV4 could ever be.
The names may be the same, but these vehicles have already moved up a segment. You may feel obliged to aim for the same model, but in truth, the newer ‘smaller’ models are only smaller when compared to the current model. Don’t give in to these brands’ marketing hype. When it comes to features, power, and capability, they’re leagues better than the family car you remember.