Toyota has introduced its redesigned Camry sedan in Japan to replace an older model which was outsold by Nissan’s Teana and Honda’s Accord.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Bloomberg News said the latest Camry will cost between JPY2.48m and JPY3.36m yen (US$29,000), in the same price range as the Teana and Accord. Toyota aims to sell 1,000 units of the model every month, it reportedly said in a statement.
The news agency noted that Toyota has also released the redesigned Estima [Previa/Tarago] minivan and new Rush sport-utility vehicle so far this year as it aims to increase its domestic market share to 45%.
Bloomberg News noted that the previous Japanese-market Camry is five years old and that Japan has one of the world’s shortest product cycles – carmakers typically offer new designs every two years on average.
“Demand for mid-sized sedans is decreasing,” Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe told the news agency. “But we think good models will still sell.”
Watanabe reportedly said Toyota might sell as many as 650,000 Camrys worldwide in 2006, including both the old and new models. It is one of Toyota’s top selling models and 593,000 units found homes in 2005, down 2.3% from a year ago.
Models that sell more than 400,000 units a year for automakers are “cash cows and as the Camry has been one of Toyota’s oldest models, it certainly makes them a lot of profit,” Koji Endo, an analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.
Toyota has all but confirmed it will build the Camry in the US at a factory belonging to affiliate and Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries, according to the report. The two companies are discussing which models to build at the Lafayette, Indiana plant.
“The Camry is a likely candidate to be built in Indiana,” Watanabe told Bloomberg News, adding: “We are in the final stages of deciding now.”
The Japanese-built Camry sedan comes with a 2.4-litre petrol engine, similar to one of two engine options offered on US-built versions and slated to be the only choice in Australian-built models. Japanese buyers will also be offered petrol-electric hybrid version, similar to the one already confirmed for US production.
According to Bloomberg News, Toyota sold 4,868 Camrys in Japan in 2005, down 20% from a year ago, while Honda’s Accord sales fell 8.3% to 9,282, and Nissan’s Teana sales fell 28% to 18,884 units during the same period. The newest Accord was released in October 2002, while the new Teana was released in February 2003.
The news agency noted that Toyota has 10 million Camrys since its debut in 1980 and the model line is now produced or assembled in Japan, US, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. It is also scheduled for production in China in mid-2006 and Russia in 2007.
