As Camry gets redesigned, reign as top US car is in jeopardy

Toyota says it increased the distance between the wheels on the new version by 2 inches and lowered the hood and roof height. The result is a lower centre of gravity and a wider look that the company calls “beautiful and futuristic.” Toyota describes the new interior as cockpit-like.

The revamped Camry gets two all-new engines, a 3.5-litre V6 and a 2.5-litre four, both paired with a new eight-speed automatic transmission. There’s also a gas-electric hybrid version.

All 2018 Camrys come standard with a suite of safety systems that includes automatic emergency braking.

Horsepower, gas mileage and price weren’t released. The new Kentucky-built Camry will be available late in the summer.

Dealers have been promised game-changing updates before, such as with the 2013 model year. But Toyota executives conceded they didn’t want too much change, fearing that they’d alienate loyal Camry buyers.

Toyota North American CEO Jim Lentz said the last generation Camry was on older underpinnings and there was little the company could do to improve its ride and handling. But the 2018 version has an all-new architecture and is longer, wider and more rigid than the old one. “The ability to now have a true driving enjoyment type car is there,” Lentz said. “It’s for real. Trust me.”

Toyota also showed off a new version of its NASCAR racing Camry with appearances by drivers Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

But the crisper handling and sportier looks may not help the Camry much in the face of a seismic consumer shift to SUVs.

Five years ago, midsize cars made up 15.8 per cent of U.S. auto sales, says Tom Libby, an industry analyst with IHS Markit. This year the market share fell more than three percentage points to 12.5. During the same five years, small SUVs rose from 12.7 per cent of U.S. sales to 18.7 per cent, Libby says.

A Camry with nicer styling, improved engines and reduced weight for better fuel economy will help, but Libby sees no sign of the trend away from cars changing. “That’s all they can do,” he says of Toyota, adding that the company must be prepared should the market shift back, perhaps if gas prices shoot higher.

The midsize car market is still huge, Libby says. Although sales fell more than 8 per cent last year, Americans still bought over 3.2 million of them. Toyota sold more than 400,000 Camrys annually from 2012 to 2015, but sales dropped 9.5 per cent to about 389,000 last year, according to Ward’s Automotive. By comparison sales of the RAV4 rose almost 12 per cent in 2016 to 352,000, while Honda’s CR-V posted a 3 per cent gain to just over 357,000. If Camry sales this year fall by the same amount as 2016, and the CR-V and RAV4 grow even slightly, both will pass the Camry.

Michael Kranjec, sales manager at Adams Toyota in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, near Kansas City, says that in the past, Toyota has discounted the Camry to keep it No. 1. But with the market shift, he doubts that will be enough in the future.

Still, he hopes Toyota will set the Camry apart from competitors, which he says all look alike. “I’m hoping it’s waking up some of the designers,” he said.

Tom Krisher, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

As Camry gets redesigned, reign as top US car is in jeopardy

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