Information AboutToyota Camry |
The Toyota Camry is a Mid-size Sedan assembled by Toyota in Georgetown, Kentucky ; Altona, Victoria , Australia ; Guangzhou, China and the original factory in Toyota City, Japan . In some markets, the top range Camry models are seen as Executive Cars . The Camry has been the best selling car in the United States, its largest consumer market, for nine of the last 10 years starting in 1997, with the only exception being 2001. The Camry also sells very well in Australia , Canada and a number of Asian markets, in particular Cambodia where the vast majority of cars are Camrys. Wired 2 The World It has not sold as well in Europe and Japan; many criticize its design as ill-suited for European and Japanese tastes. An upbranded luxury version of the Camry was sold in Japan as the Toyota Windom until 2006; the related Lexus ES in North America, Asia, and the Middle East shares major chassis and drivetrain components with the Camry. The 1990 Camry was listed #1 on USA Today's list "Cars that had the most impact on the US market from 1975 to 2000." Autoblog - USA Today lists the 25 cars with most impact Motor Trend named the 2007 Camry its 'Car of the Year', calling it "''The car Toyota's rivals wish they could build.''" Motor Trend NAMING AND ETYMOLOGY The Camry name was first launched in 1980 with the Toyota Celica Camry . The first model line independently named the Toyota Camry was launched in 1982 for the 1983 Model Year , and was classified as a Compact Car . It is primarily configured as a four-door Sedan but at different times has also been available as a five-door Hatchback , two-door Coupé , and a Station Wagon . Starting in 1999, a sportier version of the Camry, the Solara , has been available as a coupe and a Convertible . There are current rumors that the Solara will be replaced in 2009 by a new sports coupe based on the Camry layout. The Camry underwent major redesigns and upgrades in Model Year s 1987, 1992 (1990 in Japan), 1997, 2002 and most recently in 2007. Other than the original Celica Camry, the Toyota Camry has always been an FF Layout vehicle. This means the engine is transversely mounted to drive the front wheels. Some models have been offered with All-wheel Drive . The second and third-generation Camrys were Rebadged to be sold as the Holden Apollo in Australia. The Holden equivalents were not successful even though they came from the same factory as the Camry. Since 2000, Daihatsu has sold a Camry twin named the Altis. The name "Camry" comes from a phonetic transcription of the Japanese word ''kanmuri'' (冠, かんむり), which means "crown", as did the names of the Toyota Crown and Toyota Corona . Also notable is that the word "Camry" is an anagram for "My car." MARKET Market ranking in USA Market position internationally The Camry is consistently ranked as one of the most popular vehicles in the North American market. It is Toyota's "bread-and-butter" vehicle, so its marketing and sales strategy is cautious, aimed squarely at the center of buyer demographics, as most Camry buyers are not car enthusiasts. The Camry is positioned directly below Toyota's flagship car, the Avalon (since replaced by the Camry-based Aurion in Australia) and the Lexus ES in its two largest markets, Australia and North America. It is considered a sub-luxury mid-size sedan. The Camry is rarely optioned above the Avalon or ES 330, but a fully equipped Corolla slightly overlaps with the base-model Camry. The Camry was less popular in Europe, where the design was considered bland and incompatible with European driving habits. Toyota positioned the Camry as a BMW 5 Series rival, yet it lacked the cachet to compete. Following long-term poor sales, the Camry was withdrawn altogether from Europe in 2004, leaving the smaller, British-built Avensis as the top-of-the-line sedan. Because there is no Station Wagon version for the fifth generation Camry, the Camry sedan and the Avensis station wagon are sold side by side in markets like New Zealand . After the introduction of the fourth-generation Camry, sales in Japan dipped. Prior to the fourth generation, Toyota adapted the Camry's design to suit Japanese tax laws and domestic market requirements. These versions of the Camry are bounded by a certain set of dimensions which would otherwise be unsuitable for export markets. These modified-for-Japan models were called the Vista , which became separate from the Camry in 2000. For the fourth generation Camry, Toyota decided to split the Vista from the Camry. Both models still share a large number of components, but the fourth-generation split was more significant than the previous re-engineered splits. Though the Vista was sized according to domestic vehicle tax laws, the Camry (now called the Camry Gracia) was identical to those sold in foreign markets. This placed the Camry at a disadvantage as it was sized at the lower-end of a higher tax category, which included cars such as the Crown and Aristo , both aimed at a higher-end market than the Camry. The introduction of the A32-series Nissan Cefiro in 1994 may have prompted Toyota to change its strategy, despite the poor sales of the Scepter, basically a rest-of-the-world third-generation Camry, which was sold between 1992–1994 (only 4,885 units sold in total). The continued success of the Nissan Cefiro (and afterwards the Nissan Teana ) meant that some customers were willing to pay extra taxes for a larger family car, and so this marketing strategy continued. As of 2005, the Camry is produced at Toyota plants in Japan, Australia; and Georgetown, Kentucky, USA, with CKD assembly operations in Vietnam , Philippines ; and Thailand . It is also assembled from CKD kits at Toyota's local partners in Malaysia and Taiwan . {Link without Title} The Camry was imported into China as the Toyota Jiamei until 2005. In 2006, a new larger model based on the Australian-designed Toyota Aurion was assembled locally and marketed as the Toyota Camry. Starting from May 2006, the newest global Camry will also be produced in China's Guangzhou Toyota Motor Company , and from December 2007, it will also be produced in St. Petersburg , Russia . Toyota will also open a Camry engine assembly plant in 2008 in Tell City, Indiana . Current competition The Camry's perennial competitor, the Honda Accord , is often described as sportier and has traditionally been equipped with a few more performance-oriented options. However, the Camry has always been larger dimensionally than the Accord. It offered an optional V6 engine model, while Accord models didn't even have a V6 option until 1995. North American sales figures for the Accord and the Camry are usually comparable, with the Camry outselling the Accord every year since 1998, except for 2001. Many of the Camry's domestic competition has experienced decline in sales — such as in the case of the Ford Taurus, the best selling car in the US prior to 1997. Recent comparisons have placed the Camry against the Saturn Aura , Subaru Legacy , Hyundai Sonata , Nissan Altima , Mitsubishi Galant , Mazda6 , Ford Fusion and the Chevrolet Malibu ; and although the Camry isn't always the clear winner in terms of standard options, its reputation for reliability keeps its grasp on the best selling car award solid. [http://motortrend.com/roadtests/sedan/112_0304_fam/index.html In most parts of Asia, the Camry remains competitive against the Honda Accord , with the exception of China and Japan. In China, both the Nissan Teana and Honda Accord (two of Camry's main competitors) are produced locally, and, until recently, had a price advantage against the imported Camry, as Camry was not produced locally until May 2006. In Japan, its only competitor is the Nissan Cefiro (and afterwards, the Nissan Teana), but Nissan consistently outsells Toyota in this market segment. In Australasia , the Camry sells well in comparison to the top-selling family cars, the Ford Falcon and General Motors ' Holden Commodore . In Europe, the Camry's success was always limited due to excessive size (which put it into competition with the Opel/Vauxhall Omega and Ford Scorpio ) when compared to the European-developed Carina E and Avensis . After the 2006 model year, the Camry will no longer be available in Europe. MODEL HISTORY
Celica Camry (1980–1982) Originally launched as the '' Toyota Celica Camry '' in January 1980 for the Japanese home market, this model was essentially a second-generation Toyota Carina with updated body-styling and a front-end that resembled a 1978 Toyota Celica XX (known as the Celica Supra in export markets). The car was based on the Rear-wheel Drive Celica (as were the Corona and Carina ) and was powered by either a 1.6 L 12T-U engine producing 88 hp JIS (65 kW) and 128 N·m (94 ft·lbf) or a 1.8 L 13T-U engine producing 95 hp JIS (70 kW) and 147 N·m (108 ft·lbf). Towards the end of its model lifecycle, Toyota introduced a sports version of the Celica Camry equipped with the 16-valve DOHC 2.0 L engine from the Celica. This is the most sought-after version of the Celica Camry in the secondhand market today. Although it has an identical 2500 mm (98.4 in) wheelbase to the Celica, the Corona, and the Carina, it is longer than the Carina but shorter than both the Corona and Celica. During its model cycle, over 100,000 units were sold in Japan. The Celica Camry was also exported to a number of markets using the Carina's name, and it replaced the second-generation Carina in those markets. First generation (1983–1986)
In 1982 for the 1983 model year, the Camry became an independent model line, and was sold as a compact four-door sedan and five-door hatchback. There were limited exports, predominantly to right-hand-drive markets. At this point, Camry was positioned above the Carina and Corona, two other mid-sized models made by Toyota. A twin was announced at this point: the Toyota Vista . In North America, the Camry was available with a 92 hp SAE (68 KW ) 2.0 L 2S-ELC engine, 1.8 L 1C-TLC or a 74 hp 2.0 L 2C-TLC Turbo Diesel engine, four-door sedan or five-door hatchback body style, and could be purchased with either a five-speed Manual Transmission or a four-speed Automatic . In contrast to the Rear-wheel Drive Celica Camry, the Toyota Camry was a Front-wheel Drive vehicle built on an all-new platform. In Australia, only the petrol-fueled hatchback was sold. The design of the first-generation Camry fit well within the box-shaped trends of the early 1980s. Additionally, the vehicle size and available options were characteristic of Japanese-designed cars of the time; the Camry was a small, inexpensive sedan with solid but spartan construction and competed indirectly against larger American counterparts. The United Kingdom , and much of Continental Europe got the saloon versions: these were available in 1.8 GLi or 2.0 GLi trim levels. A 2.0 GLD turbodiesel was also offered, but this is rare nowadays. A hatchback version was also available. Second generation (1987–1991)
The second-generation model debuted in 1986 for the 1987 model year, and included a Station Wagon but dropped the hatchback. At this point, it was still regarded as a compact car. In 1988, an All-wheel Drive system (called All-Trac ) and a 160 hp JIS (118 kW) 2.5 L V6 Engine were added as options for the first time. The V6 was fuel-injected with 24 valves, and Dual Overhead Camshafts , much like the upgraded 130 hp JIS (96 kW) 4-cylinder. In 1991, Anti-lock Brakes became optional on the V6, LE, and wagon models. . The ES 250 was essentially the Japanese-market Camry hardtop. The second generation Camry was extremely popular in the United States and it is not at all uncommon to see examples on American roads, even to this day (more than 16 years after production). The 1987 Camry marked the first generation of Camry to be built in Australia. In fact, it was the first Camry ever made outside of Japan. A 1.8 L 4-cylinder engine rated at 64 kW (86 hp) was standard on the base model, while a 2.0 L 4-cylinder rated 88 kW (116 hp) was available on all others. In 1988, a 2.5 L V6 was introduced. The V6 sat the very top of the range, and was the only model to be imported from Japan. Due to its positioning in the line-up, and the high import duty it attracted, it was very expensive, and only sold in small numbers. In 1989, the 1.8 L engine was dropped, and was replaced with a carbureted 2.0 L engine, producing 82 kW (110 hp). In Japan there was a version using the older 3S-GE engine as used on the Celica. This particular model also had a factory strut brace similar to an AE92 Corolla and rode on the V6 model's 15 inch alloy wheels. This particular model also had an electronic instrument cluster.
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