Sporty GR concept previews next Toyota Camry

Toyota has released the first teaser for what’s thought to be the ninth-generation Toyota Camry ahead of its expected debut at the SEMA modified car show in Las Vegas late this month.

Instead of actually revealing the all-new XV80-series 2024 Toyota Camry in full, it’s thought the Japanese car-maker will unwrap a sporty GR concept at SEMA to hint at the incoming production car.

Toyota has yet to publicly confirm the new Camry’s arrival at SEMA, and instead captioned the darkened image of the concept it plans to reveal as “a new dawn is coming”.

Once the concept is revealed it’s thought we might see the production version of the new Camry as soon as the Los Angeles motor show in November, before the volume-selling Toyota sedan goes on sale in North America in early 2024.

From the darkened teaser image it looks like Toyota's next mid-size sedan will feature Prius-inspired headlights, a lower-slung nose and sleeker roofline.

Suggesting the next sedan will be far sportier than today’s XV70 Camry, the shadowy teaser also features large air intakes plus a pair of anti-dive planes attached to the front bumper – a less-than-subtle hint that a GR Camry will be offered, forming the basis of Toyota's next NASCAR racer.

Set to be once again based on a development of Toyota’s TNGA-K platform, the next Camry is expected to offer more efficient and more powerful replacements for the current naturally-aspirated 152kW/243Nm 2.5-litre four-cylinder and the 160kW petrol-electric hybrid system.

As for the show car, we think it will come powered by the 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that lives under the bonnet of the GR Corolla hot hatch.

Combined with all-wheel drive and a six-speed manual transmission, the SEMA concept could muster 250kW and 450Nm of torque for a sub-5.0sec 0-100km/h dash.

Back in Australia it was revealed this week that the Camry Hybrid order book had closed following overwhelming demand that has pushed delivery times to more than two years.

Similar problems afflict the customers of the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series V8, with buyers not able to place orders until 2024.

Dealers continue to take orders for the RAV4 Hybrid despite wait times of up to three years, although Toyota Australia says deliveries for the in-demand mid-size SUV will eventually fall to less than 12 months by mid-2024.

Due to restricted supply, Camry sales are down by almost 12 per cent this year to just 7130 units, although that figure still accounts for 69 per cent of the mainstream mid-size sedan market segment and seven times more than its next closest rival, the Mazda6.