What you're saying is you want Toyota to stray away from what works and try something different in it's most important segment in the US, because what magazines and what people who are not the market demographics for the car is will say?

 

If it looks too good some people will complain how it looks better than a Lexus and that will be a big no-no

 

Mark X is a sexy beast. This Camry is just a Camry. So much for Mark X styling influence rumor. Toyota does need to stop this crapy habit recessing the badges into the sheet metal. I've been noticing this a lot lately..

 

The Camry is almost a brand unto itself. Do we really believe that making the car look more dramtic (and perhaps even perform better) is really going to alienate the buyer who will buy a Camry on name recognition alone? I don't get all this stuff about not making the car look too good because it will scare people away. Another thing... There is more competition in this segment and they are proving successful with strong design. This isn't the 90's or mid 2000's. The market is evolving and I think buyers in thus class have more design sense than some are giving them credit for.

I also don't buy into the idea of Toyota having to hold back so as not to step on Lexus' heels. If the Lexus brand is as strong as Mercedes or BMW then people will buy Lexus because it's a Lexus. Period. It won't matter how good the Toyota looks. Make a great looking Toyota and then make a better looking Lexus.

 

The main reasons for the new Jetta selling so well is that it is much bigger than the old one and a whopping $7g less than the outgoing model. Those numbers sell. And people on the market for family sedans don't want to stand out and want bland? Sonatas sales have skyrocketed with the new model. Priorities are different in this segment which is why " bland" cars like the Camry sell well. But the sales numbers for the Sonata prove otherwise.

I'd be pretty pissed if any Toyota looked better than its Lexus counterpart.

 

why dont they just bring the mark X over here and rebadge it as a camry? who would know?

 

The only problem is that, Mark X is a significantly more expensive car than FWD Camry, and it will probably cut into Lexus ES and GS sales. It's a premium car.

I'd rock Mark X, and Toyota Crown anyday!

 

the back end of the mark x reminds me a bit of TSX...but overall it's a real nice looking car.

 

a
You're, again, speaking from YOUR perspective. What makes you think that buyers don't find the Camry attractive, stylish, and emotive? How come the Camry is automatically disqualified, yet other cars aren't? You're kidding yourself if you think 300K+ people a year buy a car they don't find good looking.

Ford tried the "let's make a car look unique and "good looking" approach in 1996. How did that work out for them?

 

Again, look at Hyundai and Kia. People have a choice now that they really didn't just a few years ago.

And if you're referring to the 96 "ovals gone mad" Taurus then consider that it wasn't the concept of making the car stylish that hurt it so much as it was that they designed the car badly. Look at bit further back to 1986 when the original Taurus came out. The only car that had the lines of the Taurus back then was the Audi 5000. Everything else was a boring box on wheels. Ford took a styling chance that payed off (along with responsive handling and road manners) as the Taurus was America's best selling car for several years until everyone else started to catch up. Obviously people wanted something sexier than what GM and the Japanese were offering at the time.

 

I agree.

 

Clearer pics of the JDM Camry Hybrid first seen in a Japanese magazine are now available at the following Taiwanese site, along with some additional specs such as a cargo space of "440-1120L" (1120L? must be with fold-down rear seats... quite an amazing feat for a hybrid), the 2AR-FXE 2.5L engine producing 160hp at 5,700rpm and 21.7kgm at 4,500rpm, an aerodynamic coefficient of 0.28Cd, and things we already knew such as the 26.5km/L combined mileage in 10-15 test mode and the 206hp total system output. From the clearer pics we can see the tastefully done (IMHO) wood-grained interior panels (although the article mentions choices of faux metalic and/or faux carbon fiber panels), 3 LCD displays in the instrument clusters that include a fuel efficiency chart and rating (which is EXCELLENT in the pic) and a real-time fuel efficiency gauge a la BMWs.

http://toyota.autonet.com.tw/cgi-bin...?b108013921001

 

Hyundai and Kia are the newest designs on the block (and just because YOU think they look good, doesn't mean everyone else automatically does) with a 10 year warranty and a cheap price. Of course they're going to have sales success.

Hilariously, though, the brand-new "sexy" Korean cars still don't outsell dated cars like the Camry and Accord, which still have lower amounts of $$ on the hood and fleet sales...

If we go by your definition, with the 1st Gen Taurus being best selling because it was sexy, then the Camry is the sexiest car on the road today, since it is the best selling car in the class and has been for 13 out of the past 14 years, more than twice as long as the Taurus ever had the title. And I need not remind you that the Honda Accord also outsold the Taurus a couple of times in the early '90s and that Toyota still sold over 200-300K Gen 2 and Gen 3 Camrys a year during that period.

 

In July...

-Accent easily outsold Fit and Yaris
-Elantra outsold Civic and came close to Corolla
-Sonata outsold Accord

Hilarious.

 

Looking good.