Toyota’s redesigned US-built 2007 Camry, unveiled at the Detroit motor show this week, will also be made in Australia and assembled in China and Russia.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The manufacturing plans reflect the significance of the popular model to Toyota world-wide.
Launched 23 years ago as a 1983 model, the Camry is the best-selling car in America (431,703 sales in 2005, ahead of the rival Honda Accord’s 369,293, according to WardsAuto.com). And it’s been top dog for four years running and eight of the past nine years. In contrast, the top-selling US-brand passenger car, Chevrolet’s Impala, ended last year in sixth place (246,482 units).
Demand for the Camry remains so strong in the US (the Kentucky-built line is also exported to Canada and Mexico, and some US protectorates like Puerto Rico and Guam; previous generation US-made wagon versions also went as far afield as Europe and Japan) that there have been rumours – not confirmed by Toyota – that even more will be built at the Subaru plant in Lafayette, Indiana, with which Toyota last month agreed a production capacity sharing deal.
It’s a significant car for Toyota Australia, too, and is the company carriage of choice in both Australia and New Zealand for legions of sales reps and stock agents who value the comfort-oriented size and ability to cover long inter-city distances on relatively poor two-lane roads.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataAustralian production began around 1988 and exports to New Zealand commenced almost immediately thereafter.
Later generations have been shipped further afield in the Asia-Pacific region and, more recently, to the Middle East. Now firmly plugged into the global Toyota production system, the Australian unit builds the Camry in both right- and left-hand drive and is the parent company’s global source for LHD Middle East markets.
The 2007 Camry will also be the first Toyota assembled in a brand new plant near St Petersburg in Russia. Job One is due towards the end of 2007 and the plant is scheduled to ramp up to a 50,000-unit annual capacity from an initial rate of 20,000.
However, a Toyota Europe spokeswoman told just-auto there are no plans currently to sell the new Camry in Europe – from any source.
Previous generations were sold over here but the model line was dropped a couple of years ago due to lack of demand.
Many timezones away from Russia, Toyota also plans to build 60,000 to 70,000 Camrys a year in China from later in 2006 – a move seen as aggressive move in the emerging medium-sized car market segment. It is scheduled to launch 2.0-litre and 2.4-litre versions to compete with Honda and Nissan, its main Japanese rivals in the country.
The automaker held a line-off ceremony last November for the first locally-produced engines for the Chinese Camrys.
The 2007 Camry is completely new on a platform stretched about two inches (it’s shared with the new US-built Avalon launched about a year ago), with longer wheelbase, updated engines, wider front and rear tracks, restyled exterior and interior, updated drivetrains plus new equipment and options.
The result, according to Toyota Motor Sales USA, “is a world-class sedan that not only redefines global standards for comfort, performance and intelligent design, but also is available, for the first time, with Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive”.
As well as mentioning the soon-to-arrive hybrid version, Toyota’s US arm is also giving fuel economy more prominence in its publicity, as you’d expect in a market rocked by high post-hurricane fuel prices last summer.
The standard much-upgraded 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine has EPA-estimated city/highway fuel economy ratings of 24/34 US gallons per mile while the largely carried-over 3.3-litre V6 gets 22 mpg city/31 mpg highway and manages 43 mpg city/37 mpg highway.
Under the new exterior sheet metal is a body structure designed to absorb collision-impact forces and help minimise impact deformation to the passenger cabin. High-strength steel is used for B-pillar and rocker panel reinforcement to help manage overall body deformation in the event of a side collision.
Inside, seat frames are designed to receive and help absorb side collision loads and a cross member in the centre of the floor is used for the same reason.
The chassis was made more rigid by connecting the cowl front to the upper suspension towers. Bonnet (hood), fenders and brackets, and the cowl are designed to crumple and absorb impact energy. New headlights have projector-type low beams.
The 109.3in wheelbase is up (from 107.1 in) but overall length is the same, with shortened rear overhang. Even with this lengthened wheelbase, turning radius is reduced.
Base model standard features in the US include halogen headlamps with automatic on/off, a tilt and telescopic steering wheel, a six-speaker 160-watt digital AM/FM/CD audio system with an auxiliary audio jack, seven airbags, an immobiliser and four-wheel disc brakes.
The top XLE has extras such as dual-zone automatic climate control and a premium 440-watt JBL audio system with Bluetooth hands-free calling.
Four-cylinder models have standard special seat fabric designed to be gentle on the skin, while V6 models feature standard leather-trimmed seats.
Options include voice-command DVD navigation system, leather-trimmed seating, rear spoiler, stability control and a keyless ‘smart’ entry and start system with push-button engine starter.
A thoughtful detail, or perhaps help for the model’s, ahem, older buyer profile in the US, is an assist plate – a place on which to position a hand for support while entering and exiting the vehicle – added to the outboard side of each front power seat-bottom surround panel.
Seats have Toyota’s Whiplash Injury Lessening (WIL) design first seen in the Prius hybrid.
V6 models get a new six-speed automatic transmission that uses 21% fewer parts than the conventional five-speed automatic it replaces. This new transmission can be shifted sequentially.
The new Camry’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system consists of dual petrol and electric power sources that are complementary and produce a combined 192 horsepower. This system varies power between petrol and electric motors, or both, as needed.
The first half of this system consists is the 2.4-litre four-cylinder 2AZ-FXE Atkinson-cycle engine, which generates 147 hp and is coupled to a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The other half is a small, specially developed electric drive motor that produces 45 horsepower, an ultra-small inverter with a specially designed compact battery, and a transaxle.
Like the RX SUV hybrid, this model is high-spec and equipment includes a tyre-pressure monitor, premium audio, Bluetooth, cruise control, dual-zone climate control and power driver’s seat.
An ‘ECO’ button that limits energy consumption by the HVAC system, under certain conditions, can help improve fuel economy.
The Australian-made Camry has has been the country’s best-selling car since 1994 and the new model will go on sale there in the third quarter of this year.
It will be built at Toyota’s Altona Plant in Victoria state and exported to 26 countries.
Toyota Australia’s executive director of sales and marketing, David Buttner, said the new Camry was a world-class family sedan and “a great example of a successful ‘world car’.
“We expect this model to consolidate Camry’s position as a dominant market leader in the Australian medium car segment,” he added.
Toyota Australia is not releasing many details of its version but just-auto expects that, as before, the basic mechanical and trim details will not differ substantially from the US-built version, though only the four-cylinder model will now be built there.
The outgoing Australian model looks much the same as its US counterpart but is in fact built on a different (older) platform derived from the previous generation’s, and also shared with the current locally-built Avalon.
This car, a unique-to-Australia composite of earlier generation models previously made and sold in the US, is soon to be replaced by an all-new, Australian-designed model which will, like the US equivalent, probably share its platform with the new Camry.
Toyota Australia said its latest Camry has significantly revised suspension geometry which was tested over more than 100,000 kilometres (60,000 miles) in more than a dozen countries – including Australia.
Australian-spec suspension on the new model will be specially tuned to suit local tastes – that usually means a firmer set-up than used in the US.
The Aussie Camry’s upgraded 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine is mated either to a five-speed manual or an intelligent new five-speed gated automatic transmission.
Buttner said the new car had the looks to attract a new generation of buyers to Toyota.
“We believe it will invigorate the medium car segment,” he said. “Toyota is the only car company to manufacture a four-cylinder medium car in Australia and we believe that is a significant advantage in the current climate of high fuel prices.”
Production of Australian six-cylinder Camrys will stop in the third quarter of this year to clear the way for the launch of the Avalon replacement towards the end of the year.
With two brand-new models, it will be a busy year for the Japanese automaker Down Under.
Graeme Roberts
