Top five Toyota Camry truths

By now you’ve no doubt devoured every word of our 2018 Toyota Camry review and watched every second of our video from the launch this week.

Now, for your continued reading pleasure, here are the top five facts you may not know about the eighth-generation Camry, the first to be imported to Australia since the 1983 original.

Pricing
Officially, the base price for the new Camry increases by $1200 to $27,690 plus on-road costs, and Toyota says extra standard safety equipment including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) alone accounts for the price hike.

But Toyota has been running out stocks of its now-superseded Australian-made Camry Altise at just $26,990 drive-away, meaning the Japanese-built Camry Ascent that replaces it is actually about $3000 more expensive.

Further up the range, the cheapest Camry Hybrid is now $550 more affordable at $29,990 plus ORCs (just $2300 more than the entry petrol model) and the sporty new Camry SX is $200 less than the Atara S it replaces, at $33,290 plus ORCs.

But the new Camry SL flagship is $2550 pricier than the superseded Atara SL at $39,990 plus ORCs and, while Toyota claims the new V6-powered SX ($37,290) and SL ($43,990) are more than $6000 cheaper than their discontinued Aurion equivalents, the base Aurion was actually at least $800 cheaper at $36,490.

In fact, Toyota is currently offering run-out stocks of the entry-level Aurion AT-X for just $29,990 drive-away, meaning the cheapest Camry V6 costs at least $10,000 more than the cheapest Aurion V6 on the road.

Camry firsts across the range include LED headlights, all-speed active cruise control (ACC), an electric parking brake with auto brake-hold function and double-wishbone rear suspension.

Also standard at base level is auto high-beam (AHB), a reversing camera, seven airbags, hill-start assist control (HAC), trailer sway control (TSC), LED daytime running lights. 60/40-split rear seatback, new seats, 17-inch alloy wheels and full-size spare, but all other models come with a space-saver spare.

Base petrol models miss out on the dual-zone air-conditioning, keyless entry/ignition and drive mode select function that are standard in the base hybrid, both both models lack the Ascent Sport’s sports bumper, 8.0-inch touch-screen, sat-nav, 7.0-inch driver’s display, premium steering wheel and gear shifter, rear parking sensors, powered driver’s seat and stainless steel scuff plates.

SX models add Camry-first 19-inch wheels, sports body kit, sports suspension, leather-accented sports seats, paddle shifters and Qi-compatible wireless phone charger.

The top-shelf Camry SL scores blind-spot monitoring, rear-cross traffic alert, 10-inch head-up display, electro-chromatic rear-view mirror, auto wipers, ventilated leather-accented seats, powered seats and steering column, front parking sensors, sunroof (hybrid) and a first-in-class opening panoramic roof for petrol models, but wheel sizes drop to 18-inch.

The only options are premium paint ($450) and a panoramic sunroof for SX models ($1950), while capped-price service costs are pegged at $195 for the first five services, which are now at 12-month/15,000km intervals.

Powertrains
Despite bringing the biggest list price increase, the entry-level Camry Ascent’s 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine is unchanged, while the V6 and petrol-electric powertrain are new.

As before, the new Camry’s petrol four produces 133kW/231/Nm in the Ascent and 135kW/235Nm in Ascent Sport, SX and SL, which come with dual exhaust outlets, and all versions continue to consume 7.8L/100km.

Despite total system output increasing to 160kW, the new Camry Hybrid’s redesigned 2.5-litre ‘Dynamic Force’ petrol-electric powertrain lowers its consumption by a whole litre to just 4.2L/100km (4.5L/100km for the SL).

And while the Camry V6 eclipses the Aurion V6’s performance outputs (224kW/362Nm v 200kW/336Nm) while being more efficient at 8.7L/100km for the SL (SX consumes 8.9L/100km; Aurion was 9.3L/100km), it now requires a 95 RON premium unleaded petrol.

It’s matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission with auto throttle blip function on downshifts (also now fitted to the four-cylinder’s six-speed auto), while the hybrid gains a sport mode and six-speed ‘manual’ function for the CVT.

Body
The 2018 Camry is the first sedan to be based on Toyota’s New Global Architecture (TNGA) and is up to 90mm longer in length (4905mm; 4885mm for Ascent with 20mm shorter front overhang), 50mm longer in wheelbase (2825mm), 25mm lower (1445mm) and 15mm wider (1840mm).

Combined with 10/20mm wider front/rear wheel tracks, 30 per cent greater torsional rigidity, a lower centre of gravity and lower driving position, it’s bigger, stiffer, quieter and has a larger footprint, improving its design and ride/handling.

Its ‘body-in-white’ is no lighter than before, however, and including extra standard equipment kerb weights increase by at least 30kg at base level (Ascent: 1490-1495kg), by at least 5kg for hybrids (1580-1635kg) and by at least 70kg for V6 models (1595-1630kg) compared to the Aurion.

The bigger body does liberate more boot space though (now a sizeable 524 litres, although the base Ascent’s full-size spare reduces that to 493 litres). And because its old-school nickel metal hydride battery pack is now mounted underneath – rather than behind – the rear seat, the Camry Hybrid’s boot is now the same size and up about 100 litres on its predecessor.

On the downside, the new Camry’s larger footprint increases its turning circle significantly, from 11 metres to 12.2m (Ascent/Sport) and 12.4m (SX/SL).

This is despite the fitment of a new electric power steering system, while braking has been upgraded via larger front/discs and the MacPherson strut front suspension has been redesigned, remounted and given new geometry to improve stability, grip and ride quality.

Sales
So the bigger, better looking, better equipped, more powerful, more dynamic, more efficient and mostly more expensive Japanese-built Camry takes big strides in many areas, but Toyota Australia remains tight-lipped on how many it expects to sell.

Toyota admits overall sales won’t match its Melbourne-made predecessor, which has been Australia’s top-selling mid-size car for 23 years and regularly averages more than 2000 sales a month or 24,000 a year.

Including the imported first-generation Camry, Toyota has sold more than 930,000 here since 1983, including 705,000 four-cylinder cars, 46,000 hybrids and almost 180,000 V6s. Combined with 111,000 Aurion V6 sales, the total is more than a million.

Toyota expects the new Camry to continue to top the mainstream medium car segment, which has long been dominated by Camry sales -- ahead of the Mazda6 – but continues to decline in Australia and globally.

It says Camry will remain an important part of its target to retain volume of more than 200,000 units and dominate the Aussie market post-manufacturing, and expects it to continue to attract fleet customers and to increase the proportion (not number) of sales to private buyers.

But that’s because fleet/business sales will plummet for the imported model, which is more expensive than before at base level and gives Toyota less room to move on pricing, reducing its capacity for sizeable fleet discounts.

As well, Toyota will not only be less inclined to chase fleet sales at the expense of profits in the absence of a factory to maintain production volume in, but won’t have automatic access to many lucrative government and business fleets that have traditionally bought Australian.

Over the last 12 months, just 34 per cent of Camry sales went to private customers, with 66 per cent going to fleet/business buyers.

Of the 20,500 Camrys sold to October this year, about 8500 went to private buyers, 3000 to federal, state and local governments, 3500 to fleets, 2500 to rental companies, 1500 to companies, 1000 to not for profit organisations and 450 to taxi companies.

About 9000 were base Altise models, 4900 were Atara S, 2600 were Altise Hybrids, 1150 were Atara S Hybrids, 1200 were Atara SXs, 1100 were Atara SLs and 500 were Atara SL Hybrids.

Aurion’s share of private buyers was healthier at 51 per cent (although 49 per cent still went to fleets), but whether individuals will consider the Camry V6 a step downmarket from the Aurion, which has found less than 2500 homes this year, remains to be seen.

Toyota Australia’s situation might not be as dire as Holden’s with its imported 2018 Commodore, which replaces a homegrown model that’s historically attracted a fleet sales mix of up to 90 per cent.

But do the maths and it’s clear that if fleet and individual buyers walk away from Camry/V6 in significant numbers and Australian demand for luxury cars continues to explode, the nation’s top-selling mid-size car could become the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, just 10 to 12 per cent of which are bought by corporate customers.

With almost 7200 sales notched up to October this year (up more than 30 per cent; excluding coupe/convertible), Mercedes has sold almost as many C-Class sedans and wagons than the number of Camrys that went to private customers so far in 2017.