Toyota Motor Corp’s new Camry will start a blitz of US model releases to regain sales lost to rivals such as Hyundai Motor Co after three years that included recession, recalls and an earthquake.
Toyota unveiled the 2012 Camry yesterday at Paramount Studios in Hollywood on a New York City-themed backlot with 200 actors, dancers and musicians. It’s the first of 20 new and refreshed Toyota, Lexus and Scion models arriving by early 2013, said Bob Carter, group vice president of US sales. The new version of the top-selling US car goes on sale in October.
“They have been given a black eye over the past three years for different things, some beyond their control and some that showed kinks in their armor,” said Ed Kim, an industry analyst for AutoPacific Inc, in Tustin, California. Bringing out the Camry and other new models “is tremendously important,” he said.
The new models, starting with four more this year, come none too soon for the Toyota City, Japan-based company, set to lose its ranking as the world’s largest auto maker this year. Japan’s March earthquake slowed Toyota plants in the months that followed, hindering efforts to bounce back from last year’s record recalls.
US deliveries for Toyota’s three brands fell 7.1 per cent this year through July to 943,590, its lowest for the period since 1999. By comparison, total light-vehicle sales grew 11 per cent, with Hyundai up 23 per cent, General Motors Co up 16 per cent and Ford Motor Co rising 12 per cent.
‘CAMRY IS KEYSTONE’
“It really starts with the all-new Camry; Camry is the keystone of the brand,” Carter said in an interview yesterday. “Then the cadence comes faster than I’ve seen in 30 years with Toyota.”
Along with Camry, Toyota this year will add the hybrid Prius v wagon, revamped Yaris subcompact, Scion iQ minicar and a modified Tacoma pickup, Carter said. Releases in 2012 include a plug-in version of Prius and compact Prius c hybrid, a new Lexus GS sport sedan, a battery-powered RAV4 sport-utility vehicle and a rear-wheel-drive Scion FR-S sports car, he said.
“It is definitely good to have a heavy schedule of new models on the way, to kind of wow the public,” said Kim.
The Camry and expanded line of Prius models are designed to help overcome lingering consumer concerns about the quality and safety of Toyota products after the company recalled millions of cars and light trucks for flaws linked to accelerator-pedal interference.
“Those two are key to building back the brand,” Carter said, who has said Prius will be Toyota’s top-selling line by the end of the decade.
‘NO JOKE’
The new Camry has the best safety, handling and fuel economy among US midsize sedans, with the hybrid version averaging 41 miles per gallon of gasoline, up 24 per cent, Carter said. Toyota is determined to keep the model the top-selling passenger car, a position held for 13 of the past 14 years.
“To become the biggest-selling car in America is no joke,” Yoshimi Inaba, Toyota’s North American chief executive, said in a July 12 interview. “You have to be good everywhere. We think we’ve got it.”
Camry is symbolic of Toyota’s success, Chief Executive Officer Akio Toyoda said in a speech yesterday marking the start of production of the model in Georgetown, Kentucky.
“This is an opportunity to show the world what Toyota is all about,” said Toyoda, grandson of the auto maker’s founder. “I can introduce the new Camry with 100 per cent confidence,”, he said.
SALES SLIPPING
Through July, Camry sales slipped 7.8 per cent to 174,485 from a year earlier. Nissan Motor Co’s Altima gained 17 per cent to 153,182, second-most among midsize cars. Hyundai’s Sonata had a 27 per cent sales gain, Ford’s Fusion rose 17 per cent, GM’s Malibu increased 11 per cent and Kia Motors Corp’s Optima more than doubled.
Toyota’s goal is to sell 360,000 in the US next year, said Greg Thome, a spokesman.
“The car is fully competitive on all counts,” said Kim, the AutoPacific analyst, who test-drove the sedan yesterday. “It seems very poised to hold on to its buyer base, but not go out and gain new customers. The lower price should help entice those who might be thinking about moving away from the Toyota fold to other brands.”
Even if the new car doesn’t lure drivers from Hyundai, Ford, Kia, Honda Motor Co or Volkswagen AG, Camry has the largest owner base of any midsize sedan in the US, Carter said. Toyota estimates more than 6.8 million Camry models are on the road in the U.S., with 90 per cent sold since 1995.
“That’s a foundation no other manufacturer has,” Carter said.
2007 PEAK
Toyota’s best year for Camry was 473,108 in 2007, after the current version came out, and it’s been the best-selling car in the US for the past nine years.
Changes to Camry’s exterior styling are more “evolutionary” than “revolutionary,” Carter said.
It retains the 2011 Camry’s basic profile, substituting the current car’s rounder edges with squared-off corners. While exterior dimensions are similar, it has a roomier rear seat and bigger trunk, Toyota said.
Improved ride and handling also a key focus, Inaba said.
“Until the last moment of the launch, we’ve tried to do better than competitors everywhere,” he said.
LOWER PRICES
The price of a four-cylinder 2012 Camry LE with an automatic transmission was trimmed by about $200 to $22,500, Carter said. The price of a SE version was reduced by about $1,000 to $23,000, and the top-end XLE grade was cut $2,000 to $24,725, he said of the models with four-cylinder engines. Prices of the models with six-cylinder engines won’t change.
A manual transmission isn’t offered because of low demand, Toyota said.
A 2012 Sonata’s starting price is $19,695, and Ford’s Fusion begins at $22,830, with an automatic transmission.
The new Camry Hybrid’s 41 mpg average also tops Hyundai’s Sonata Hybrid at 37 mpg and the Fusion Hybrid’s 39 mpg, according to US Environmental Protection Agency data. The Camry Hybrid will start at $25,900, and the XLE version will be priced at $27,400, Carter said today.
The reduced pricing is part of Toyota’s strategy to retain sales volume, Carter said. “We’d rather price the car right and not discount it down through incentives,” he said.
