[PHOTOS] Here’s What The 2014 Toyota Corolla Should Look Like; Compare The Corolla Concept To The 2014 Corolla

[UPDATE: 10:48 p.m. EDT] Here are the front ends of the 2014 Toyota Corolla and the Toyota Furia Concept.

And the other official photos:

[UPDATE 8:48 p.m. EDT] Toyota announced on its Twitter feed that the 2014 Corolla would be presented live at "8:35ish PST."

[UPDATE 8:02 p.m. EDT] Czech language auto site autoweb.cz claims to have a photo of the 2014 Toyota Corolla. The official Toyota teaser image above shows a car that appears to have a more pronounced rear profile than the car below. Who knows? In a few hours the world will have a clearer image of the next iteration of the world's No. 1 best-selling car.

[UPDATE 7:40 p.m. EDT] It's almost 5 p.m. in Santa Monica, where Toyota's 2014 Corolla will be unveiled sometime this evening in North America. Here's a glimpse of the U.S. sales volume for the two models over the past year. The Corolla consistently outsells the Focus even on Ford's home turf.

[UPDATE 12:25 p.m. EDT] There are few images of the 2014 Toyota Corolla out right now, but one made public by Toyota shows a taillight (at left) that's very similar to the one on the Corolla Furia concept car the Japanese automaker has been displaying at auto shows in recent months.

A Toyota dealer in Olathe, Kansas, revealed some details of the new version of the world’s bestselling car. He has since taken the details down – presumably because Toyota asked him to – but not before Car & Driver magazine glimpsed the post last month.

Though Toyota's keeping mum, the Olathe dealer claims the 2014 Corolla will retain the 1.8 liter engine of the current model with no changes to the 4-speed automatic of the base model. The manual will get a sixth gear, according to the dealer who claims to have seen the car.

The new model could see slightly more power from the current 132 horsepower with 128 lb-ft of torque. Fuel economy should improve, too. The new Corolla will likely have Toyota’s new Valvematic continuously variable-timing system instead of the current standard variable timing. This means control of the flow and intake of exhaust gases with the new technology will be more efficient.

[UPDATE 9:59 a.m. EDT] Here are a few Corolla bullet points from auto information provider Edmunds.com:

- Corolla fleet sales -- mostly comprised of purchases by car rental companies -- have doubled since 2008. The Corolla's now second to the Ford Focus in fleet sales for the compact sedan category.

- Twenty seven percent of Corolla-curious car buyers that visited Edmunds.com were also considering buying the Honda Civic, according to the website's data. That's less than the 11 percent of Honda Civic shoppers that considered the Corolla. This pattern played out for most competing models, except the Nissan Sentra. In other words, Corolla buyers are more likely to be considering other cars in the same category.

- The Corolla's popular among Hispanic buyers in the U.S. The car has the largest market share in Yuma, Ariz., El Centro, Calif., and Miami, according to a Polk data analysis by Edmunds.com.

[UPDATE 11:17 p.m., June 5, EDT] Here are the best photos of the external features from Toyota of its 2014 Corolla, slated to be presented on Thursday. Scroll down to see the Corolla Furia concept car that was displayed at the Detroit and New York auto shows earlier this year.

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Toyota's pulling the sheet off the 2014 Corolla. What will it share with this Corolla Furia concept car?

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) will unveil on Thursday the latest of its all-important Corolla, the best-selling compact sedan in the U.S. It's a vehicle that has a solid customer base in a crowded market that aims for simple driving dependability.

While it's not the most exciting vehicle release of the year, the 2014 Corolla will represent the direction this simple, low-cost, solid-resale-value car is heading as it competes in a competitive field that also includes the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus, Chevrolet Cruze, Mazda3 and Nissan Sentra.

"You can't underestimate Corolla's importance to Toyota's success," Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, said. "Toyota has had a successful formula with the Corolla, but the vehicle does need some improvement in order to capture the more-discerning compact car buyer in this competitive environment."

Toyota has been coy with the details. You can see tiny hints of what the newest Corolla will look like at Toyota USA’s Facebook page and on the auto blogs.

Toyota unveiled the sleek Corolla Furia concept car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit earlier this year. While the 2014 Corolla probably won't look exactly like the Furia, that concept might offer a hint at where the Japanese automaker is going with the Corolla as far as body style is concerned.

View some of the details of the Corolla Furia concept, and check back here for photos of the 2014 Corolla to compare: