2015 Camry, commentary
01-21-14, 06:56 AM
#16
Lexus Champion
Nice "problem" to have. Most brands would love to be in this situation. I do agree though, that they need to keep the Camry's styling current.
01-21-14, 07:39 AM
#17
Pole Position
Current gen camry was pretty much done when Akio took over dude. Its not like he was blind to it. Just he had no choice. You don't dump a billion dollars worth of investments recklessly. Just look at the Avalon if you want to see how Akio would have done the Camry.
01-21-14, 08:13 AM
#18
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Bean counter arguments are for bean counters. Akio is no bean counter... the guy actually loves cars. I understand completely where he's coming from. The Camry is successful but unremarkable. The exterior is a simple block. The interior is clunky and not especially well-made. It is completely devoid of any emotional element. That doesn't suit Akio and I'm with him. True, the Camry continues to lead the sales race, but that's partly because Toyota is aware of the heat and has been aggressive about ensuring its lead.
01-21-14, 08:28 AM
#19
Lexus Champion
2015 will be just a face-lift (MMC) for the Camry so there is not much that can be done. The doors, window glass and roof will not change; the creases in the door skins will likely stay also. The underlying structure of the car will not change; it will still be recognizable as the current-generation Camry.
What can change are the front fenders, hood, bumper, grill and headlights. At the rear, the bumper can change, the lights can change and MAYBE the trunk lid MAY change; the rear fenders will likely stay the same.
The suspension tuning can change but you won't likely see a change from the current 4-wheel MacPherson struts.
Inside, the dashboard and the centre console may change and probably should change to bring it in line with the current horizontal design language seen in the Avalon (and Corolla). The seats may change but I don't see a need to change them. The back seat room is fine so there is no need to perform rear seat surgery as Chevrolet did on the Malibu.
They could make it look like the Asian Camry / Australian Aurion, but what would they do with the current Australian Camry, which looks like our Camry?
It will still be a Camry, which is fine with me. It will still be a nice mid-sized family car that does not trade (too much) functionality for trendy styling. The current swoopy styling cuts into rear seat headroom, makes it more difficult to get in & out of the back seat, cuts visibility out of the car, and also reduces the trunk opening to postage-stamp size.
What can change are the front fenders, hood, bumper, grill and headlights. At the rear, the bumper can change, the lights can change and MAYBE the trunk lid MAY change; the rear fenders will likely stay the same.
The suspension tuning can change but you won't likely see a change from the current 4-wheel MacPherson struts.
Inside, the dashboard and the centre console may change and probably should change to bring it in line with the current horizontal design language seen in the Avalon (and Corolla). The seats may change but I don't see a need to change them. The back seat room is fine so there is no need to perform rear seat surgery as Chevrolet did on the Malibu.
They could make it look like the Asian Camry / Australian Aurion, but what would they do with the current Australian Camry, which looks like our Camry?
It will still be a Camry, which is fine with me. It will still be a nice mid-sized family car that does not trade (too much) functionality for trendy styling. The current swoopy styling cuts into rear seat headroom, makes it more difficult to get in & out of the back seat, cuts visibility out of the car, and also reduces the trunk opening to postage-stamp size.
01-21-14, 08:28 AM
#20
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I know that Toyota doesn't need to offer AWD to promote sales, but since it is occurring more often in the segment, one would think that Toyota would have been on top of this already. ...I would think that his option would be more popular for the ES to remain competitive with the TL, G, etc.... I suppose its been 25ish years since there was an All-Trac Camry.
01-21-14, 09:32 AM
#21
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Toyota Seeks Heart-Racing Camry Without Losing No. 1 Spot
The Volkswagen Passat is the blandest car in the segment.
Toyota Motor Corp. has a challenge: How to heed President Akio Toyoda’s insistence on heart-racing design for the next Camry and Prius models without jeopardizing their mass-market appeal.
Getting it wrong risks knocking Camry from its perch as the best-selling U.S. car, a title held for 12 consecutive years, and seeing Prius, which sells more than 200,000 units annually in the U.S., eclipsed by newer hybrid vehicles. While next-generation versions of both cars are in the works, Toyota executives haven’t provided many details.
The aim for the next Camry is a “more emotional, more impactful design,” Kevin Hunter, head of Toyota’s U.S. design studio, said in an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. “Camry’s taken some hits on styling, but it’s still selling well. But we need to create better design for Camry in the future.”
Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, is pushing an overhaul of vehicles with an emphasis on “waku-doki” design, shorthand for the Japanese phrase for heart-racing qualities. That would break from the current styling of the Camry and Prius, which together accounted for about a third of the Toyota City, Japan-based company’s U.S. sales volume last year.
“Finding the right balance is going to be very tricky” for the Camry, said Jack Nerad, analyst and executive editor at Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, California. “Most consumers like good-looking cars, they don’t want to drive appliances.”
Camry Challenges
Because Camry’s customer base, which Toyota estimates is 5 million owners, is so large, there are limits to how far the company can go in changing the design, Kazuo Ohara, head of Toyota’s U.S. sales unit, said.
“I would not go so far as saying we could be adventurous, but at least more aggressive,” he said in an interview in Detroit this week. With the current Camry, “we were probably a little bit too conservative.”
The emphasis on the next version of the car is enhanced interior packaging and materials and more “emotional” exterior looks, Ohara said, without elaborating on specific details. The company isn’t ready to say when a new Camry or Prius will go on sale, the executives said.
U.S. Camry sales were 408,484 in 2013, topping newer sedans, including Honda Motor Co.’s Accord, Nissan Motor Co.’s Altima and Ford Motor Co.’s Fusion, with faster-growing sales. The Accord is the No. 2 car, with 366,678 units sold last year, according to a Honda statement this month.
Getting it wrong risks knocking Camry from its perch as the best-selling U.S. car, a title held for 12 consecutive years, and seeing Prius, which sells more than 200,000 units annually in the U.S., eclipsed by newer hybrid vehicles. While next-generation versions of both cars are in the works, Toyota executives haven’t provided many details.
The aim for the next Camry is a “more emotional, more impactful design,” Kevin Hunter, head of Toyota’s U.S. design studio, said in an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. “Camry’s taken some hits on styling, but it’s still selling well. But we need to create better design for Camry in the future.”
Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, is pushing an overhaul of vehicles with an emphasis on “waku-doki” design, shorthand for the Japanese phrase for heart-racing qualities. That would break from the current styling of the Camry and Prius, which together accounted for about a third of the Toyota City, Japan-based company’s U.S. sales volume last year.
“Finding the right balance is going to be very tricky” for the Camry, said Jack Nerad, analyst and executive editor at Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, California. “Most consumers like good-looking cars, they don’t want to drive appliances.”
Camry Challenges
Because Camry’s customer base, which Toyota estimates is 5 million owners, is so large, there are limits to how far the company can go in changing the design, Kazuo Ohara, head of Toyota’s U.S. sales unit, said.
“I would not go so far as saying we could be adventurous, but at least more aggressive,” he said in an interview in Detroit this week. With the current Camry, “we were probably a little bit too conservative.”
The emphasis on the next version of the car is enhanced interior packaging and materials and more “emotional” exterior looks, Ohara said, without elaborating on specific details. The company isn’t ready to say when a new Camry or Prius will go on sale, the executives said.
U.S. Camry sales were 408,484 in 2013, topping newer sedans, including Honda Motor Co.’s Accord, Nissan Motor Co.’s Altima and Ford Motor Co.’s Fusion, with faster-growing sales. The Accord is the No. 2 car, with 366,678 units sold last year, according to a Honda statement this month.
01-21-14, 09:43 AM
#22
I'll tell you what, that hybrid motor setup is no slouch . . . I wish I could transplant it into my CT200h . . .
01-21-14, 10:52 AM
#24
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
To those saying vanilla sells, that's beginning to be a dying trend and dated mindset. Just look at what's happened with the Sonata, Optima, Altima and Accord recently. As I mentioned in my original post, cars like that have added stylish, modern bodies to the equation and have gained a ton of momentum not once had. This has certainly stole sales away from the Camry and is exactly what Mr. Toyoda is referring to when he says they need to improve the Camry by adding emotion. He knows there's more to be had. Simple, plane Jane no longer cuts it today in this segment. People want everything all in one, and the Camry is losing potential sales because of this. He wouldn't be admitting there's a problem if there truly wasn't a problem.
To clear up the sales numbers, whatever they may be:
Camry sales, good. Could be better.
To clear up the sales numbers, whatever they may be:
Camry sales, good. Could be better.
01-21-14, 10:53 AM
#25
To those saying vanilla sells, that's beginning to be a dying trend and dated mindset. Just look at what's happened with the Sonata, Optima, Altima and Accord recently. As I mentioned in my original post, cars like that have added stylish, modern bodies to the equation and have gained a ton of momentum not once had. This has certainly stole sales away from the Camry and is exactly what Mr. Toyoda is referring to when he says they need to improve the Camry by adding emotion. He knows there's more to be had. Simple, plane Jane no longer cuts it today in this segment. People want everything all in one, and the Camry is losing potential sales because of this. He wouldn't be admitting there's a problem if there truly wasn't a problem.
To clear up the sales numbers, whatever they may be:
Camry sales, good. Could be better.
To clear up the sales numbers, whatever they may be:
Camry sales, good. Could be better.
01-21-14, 11:00 AM
#26
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
I wonder how much of those numbers are reflected from the recession in 2009 and it's gradual recovery. As I understand it, most car maker's numbers having been climbing since 2009.
01-21-14, 11:17 AM
#27
Personally, for me the best car in the class is Mazda 6 - nice engine tech, decent interior and great looks... but Mazda 6 sells 10x less than Camry almost (43k sales for last year). So I dont think MY opinion is relevant to the people buying Camry.
01-21-14, 11:18 AM
#28
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To those saying vanilla sells, that's beginning to be a dying trend and dated mindset. Just look at what's happened with the Sonata, Optima, Altima and Accord recently. As I mentioned in my original post, cars like that have added stylish, modern bodies to the equation and have gained a ton of momentum not once had. This has certainly stole sales away from the Camry and is exactly what Mr. Toyoda is referring to when he says they need to improve the Camry by adding emotion. He knows there's more to be had. Simple, plane Jane no longer cuts it today in this segment. People want everything all in one, and the Camry is losing potential sales because of this. He wouldn't be admitting there's a problem if there truly wasn't a problem.
To clear up the sales numbers, whatever they may be:
Camry sales, good. Could be better.
To clear up the sales numbers, whatever they may be:
Camry sales, good. Could be better.
01-21-14, 11:24 AM
#29
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Here I fixed that for you. You somehow conveniently lopped off the 1st and 2nd year of sales of the previous model, which is what you'd want to compare to the 1st and 2nd year of sales for the current model. Sales are down vs the previous model by quite a bit.
01-21-14, 11:28 AM
#30
To those saying vanilla sells, that's beginning to be a dying trend and dated mindset. Just look at what's happened with the Sonata, Optima, Altima and Accord recently. As I mentioned in my original post, cars like that have added stylish, modern bodies to the equation and have gained a ton of momentum not once had. This has certainly stole sales away from the Camry and is exactly what Mr. Toyoda is referring to when he says they need to improve the Camry by adding emotion. He knows there's more to be had. Simple, plane Jane no longer cuts it today in this segment. People want everything all in one, and the Camry is losing potential sales because of this. He wouldn't be admitting there's a problem if there truly wasn't a problem.
To clear up the sales numbers, whatever they may be:
Camry sales, good. Could be better.
To clear up the sales numbers, whatever they may be:
Camry sales, good. Could be better.
Sonata sold 203k cars in 2013, down from 230k. Despite Hyundai doubling their fleet sales. On the other hand, Toyota lowered their fleet sales compared to 2013.
And Toyoda is saying the same for complete brand and all of their cars, not just the Camry. That does not mean that he thinks Camry sucks.
I dont think Camry can sell much better at all... few years back, head for Toyota production in USA said that optimal Camry production is 400k and that they dont gain much by producing more than 400k.
What Toyota and Toyoda probably want to do is to sell Camry at higher prices and higher profits. Although I am not sure that the profits are not high already, as Camry is their biggest car after Corolla worldwide and Toyota has record profits for 2013.
So obviously they are doing great.