Aurion in doubt

Despite initially committing to continue with the Aurion sedan beyond the 2017 closure of its Altona assembly line, Toyota Australia now appears to be reconsidering. While the country’s number one vehicle retailer insists it will be represented in the six-cylinder passenger car beyond 2017, the favoured strategy is said to be (re)consolidating under the Camry name rather than continuing with the Aurion nameplate.

That is effectively a reversion to the traditional Camry strategy.

“We have to think about all those things but we have nothing to announce. All those things are being considered,” Toyota Australia executive director sales and marketing Tony Cramb told motoring.com.au when asked about Aurion and potentially dropping the nameplate in favour of Camry V6.

The Aurion name, which is ancient Greek for ‘tomorrow’, was introduced as part of a concerted Toyota attempt to crack Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore’s domination of the large passenger car segment. It was hyped as a local development and there was Australian input into its styling and tuning.

Toyota offered the Camry as both a four-cylinder and a V6 between 1990 and 2006. It has been only a four-cylinder model since then.

The first Aurion launched in the second half of 2006, replacing both the Avalon and the Camry V6. At the time Toyota chairman emeritus John Conomos, one of the key drivers for its creation, estimated sales of 25,000 per annum in Australia.

The Aurion shares the Camry’s wheelbase, front-wheel drive architecture and most body panels and is built alongside it at the Altona plant.

But the Aurion has never beaten the sales of its rivals and it has suffered just as badly as the segment has declined. To the end of October 2015, according to official VFACTS figures, 2975 Aurion sedans had been registered, versus 5204 Falcons and 22,534 Commodore sedans and wagons.

Asked about potential post-2017 model line-up streamlining in a market where SUVs and light commercials continue to escalate in popularity, Cramb lauded the sales performance of a series of a series of passenger vehicles, but notably steered clear of the Aurion.

“Yaris has gone crazy, Corolla is going well, Camry is going well - obviously we have a job to do between now and the end of manufacturing -- so we will stick with those vehicles.

“There is a future for Camry. We have already announced we are definitely continuing with that.”

When asked specifically about Aurion he clearly hedged his bets.

“From where we sit right now there is clearly a case for a six-cylinder [passenger sedan],” Cramb said.

But badged Camry not Aurion?

“We have to think about all those things. But there is clearly a market for a six-cylinder,” he replied.

Cramb said there had been no announcements made about the future of Aurion, but that’s actually a step back from early 2014 when in an official press release confirming the closure of Altona stated: “It is the company's intention to import the Camry and Aurion vehicles beyond 2017, along with the entire range of Toyota passenger and commercial vehicles.”

The Aurion is also sold as a ‘prestige’ Camry in some markets. In some markets, such as Japan, the Aurion styling has replaced the regular Camry.

The Australian version of the Aurion received a light facelift in May.