Toyota's New Camry: Incredibly Important, Incredibly Reliable -- but Still Too Boring
Between recalls and earthquakes, Toyota (TM) has not had a great couple of years. But now it's poised for a comeback. And the 2012 Camry will be extremely important to that effort -- in July the popular sedan just recovered the top-car spot it has briefly lost to Chevy's upstart Cruze compact. Unfortunately, if sneak peeks are any indication, the new Camry might not be able to keep the model's epic run alive.
Boring is good when the economy is booming
What made the Camry so successful? Well, for most people, a basic sedan is ideal transportation: roomy, fuel-efficient, and a decent enough platform for various flavors of technology. The perfect commuter-mobile. Or just default transportation, if you don't want to think about it too much. All this for right around $20,000.
The logic of this studiously dull vehicle is unimpeachable when times are good. Need a car? Get this one. But in the crappy economy, when the people spending money want more than staid reliability, Camry's lack of distinguishing features stand out.
This is why the Cruze, although in a different category (it was designed to take on Toyota's Corolla and Honda's Civic), has done so well of late. It's a stylish package that advanced the argument for straightforward mobility, adding the kind of flair and panache that Toyota's cars lack (the Cruze has two-tone leather seats, for crying out loud).
Toyota's schizophrenia
There have been several teasing early views of the new 2012 Camry, which won't be officially unveiled until August 23. A hybrid version was spotted being tested, and Toyota posted a cropped, come-hither shot on Twitter.
But is these images are any indication, Toyota didn't exactly tear up the template. The overall impression is of a conservative update. The strategy is clear: make sure that longtime Camry owners aren't freaked out. This could be even more important as Toyota emerges from the quake crisis, anticipating that customers who've been on the sidelines will head back to dealerships once they know that Toyota has enough cars to sell.
Of course, while Toyota is trying to shore up its base with the new Camry, it's preparing to expand its $375,000 supercar lineup, with a Roadster version of the LFA that appealed to, among others, Paris Hilton.
No reviews before Broadway
It's too early to write the Camry off -- although the poor experience that Honda has endured with its stalwart Civic, recently dinged by Consumer Reports, should be a cautionary tale. Just because a model has done well doesn't mean it will do well forever.
Of course, the 2012 Camry will likely sell briskly when it does arrive. It's not going to be bad enough to be a disaster. That's the advantage of adopting a go-it-slow gambit for the redesign.
However, this is horse that Toyota will have to ride in the mid-size sedan segment for the next four years, the typical timeframe for a model design. This is the period when Toyota will be trying, in the U.S., to recover around 10 percent of lost market share.
And that's share lost to General Motors (GM), Ford (F), and Chrysler, each of which is keen to get back into cars after a decade or two spent focusing on trucks. That's what Toyota is up against. A steady-and-she-goes flagship sedan might not be up to the challenge.
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