Video, gallery:Toyota unveils restyled 2014 Corolla

• Toyota Corolla all-new for 2014
• Four inches longer%2C with most going to rear seat
• An Eco version will get 40 mpg highway

SANTA MONICA, Calif., -- Toyota unveiled a new design Thursday night for the 2014 model of its popular Corolla sedan during a zen-like introduction in an aircraft hangar here. The new model goes on sale in September, pricing to be announced.

The sedan, sold worldwide and a perennial top 10 seller in U.S., is bigger and got a new slick front-end design with a huge mouth (not unlike Toyota's redone Avalon), sharp creases and flared wheel wells.

Corolla's wheelbase grows by four inches, with most of the extra space going to enhance leg room in the rear seat -- even as the overhangs beyond the wheels are shorter and sportier-looking.

In a segment where fuel efficiency is a top consideration, Corolla will offer two thrifty four-cylinder engines and will switch to a thrifty continuously variable ratio transmission, or CVT, though Toyota says it software will let it mimic the shift points of a seven-speed regular automatic transmission. The low-end L and sportier S models will offer a 6-speed stick.

Toyota also is creating a special high-mileage version of Corolla, called Eco, that is expected to be rated at least 40 miles per gallon on the highway. No hybrid model was announced.

But the biggest news is its look. Corolla is the nation's best-selling compact car and fifth most-popular car overall through May this year. But it was the oldest -- even dowdiest design in the increasingly competitive compact segment. And company head Akio Toyoda has said he wants his cars to be more stylish and more fun as they are redone.

Meanwhile, Corolla competition in compacts is full of redesigned cars -- like archrival Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra -- that eroding Toyota's historical edge in reliability and economy and doing it in flashier, fancier fashion.

To help make the point that this is the new Toyota and a new, more stylish, more fun Corolla, the global reveal for it in Santa Monica was the kind of extravaganza usually reserved for luxury cars. Their aerilists performing on ropes over your head, dancers that appeared to run on fabric on the side of the hanger and a swimming pool that descended from the ceiling in which women slip-slided across the transparent plastic floor. A celebrity Top Chef provided the fancy food and fog-inducing nitrogen cocktails.

The climax -- the new Corolla descended from the roof of the giant hangar.

And the car delivered a dramatic new look for the 11th generation generation of Corolla that has sold more than 40 million worldwide -- now in 154 countries -- in five decades. The production model is toned down from the Corolla Furia concept Toyota displayed at show this season, but keeps a lot of its energy.

"They have rightfully been accused of making the Corolla one of the most boring cars out there," says George Peterson, president of consultants AutoPacific. "Finally, they have come up with style that is contemporary and a style (that drivers won't feel) sentenced to drive."

The current Corolla may have forgettable looks, but sales haven't suffered. Toyota sold 132,514 Corollas through the first five months of the year, just ahead of archrival Civic, Autodata reports. And its owners are famously loyal, with about a third of them trading in an older Corolla for their new purchase, according to car-buying website Edmunds.com. Corolla also has built a following with Latino buyers.

The new Corolla's stretches both the wheelbase and overall length by four inches — with three inches more rear legroom — and that could boost Corolla's appeal not only in the U.S., but in fast-growing markets such as China where big back seats particularly are prized.

The new Corolla will offer two versions of a 1.8-liter, four cylinder engine, a base model rated at 132 horsepower and an enhanced one with 140 horsepower.

Gas mileage estimates for the regular sedan were not disclosed, but Toyota says the new Eco version's expected breaking of the 40 mpg highway barrier will be aided by a special rear spoiler, low rolling-resistance tires, lighter wheels and underbody panels to channel air under the car and reduce drag.

The new Corolla will offered four trim levels and offer the more premium touches now expected even by compact buyers.

For instance, it will be the first compact, says Toyota, with LED headlamps, an eye-catching feature that has filtered down from luxury cars. And the LED low beams will be standard on all models.

The interior is dressed up in style and materials and the front seat cushions are longer and offer more support. The updated dash -- much needed -- now borrows (like the front grille) from the design used in the new Avalon.

Observers, so far, are impressed. "They are checking all the right boxes," Peterson says.