Toyota may launch a face-lifted Camry in 2012

Toyota is planning to launch a face-lifted Camry in US by September 2011. The car could then hit the Indian market by mid 2012.The upcoming Camry will mostly be a cosmetic upgrade to the current model.

As is evident from the images available the new Camry will retain the overall dimensions of the current model and will follow a traditional Toyota evolution with regard to styling.

Redesigned Front: The front of the new Camry will likely get smoother edges, a chrome grille, side swept headlamps and low-set stance. The front looks drastically different and is nothing like the outgoing model. The car will now sport a subtle yet up-market design up front.

Side Profile: The side profiles of the car remain mostly unaltered, but the roofline of the new Camry seems to be a bit lower than the current model. The overall design also gives the vehicle a slightly elongated look giving the Camry a bit more road presence. The present Camry was aggressively styled and in this age of cutting edge design Toyota’s new Camry will face stiff competition.

Elegant Rear: The rear will sport a bigger tail lamp cluster that further extends into the boot lid. The upcoming Camry will likely have a slightly lowered boot loading lip for easier loading and unloading of baggage. It sports a flat chrome slat one the boot lid, keeping in tune with the current market trend. The car looks up market and elegant.

Present model

The current model sold in India, is powered by a 2.4 litre, VVT-i petrol motor that produces 165 bhp of max power and 224 Nm of max torque. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic transmission depending on the variant. For the new Camry, there are speculations that Toyota may use a re-engineered power train that is capable of offering better power and torque as well as improved fuel efficiency.

Competition

In India the Camry competes with the Skoda Superb and Honda Accord. The Superb will be the variant’s key rival as well. In the financial year 2010-2011, Skoda sold 4,164 units of Superb, while Honda sold 2,446 units of Accord and Toyota sold 558 units of Camry in India.

The recently launched, new Volkswagen Passat too poses threat to the Camry and has new features such as Advanced Park Assist system, Blue Motion technologies such as Regenerative braking and start-stop technology.

When compared with its rivals, the present Toyota Camry has dated interiors and lacks latest features offered by the German counterpart such as Volkswagen Passat. Lack of diesel variant is a big downside for Camry considering the strong sales of diesel.

The new Camry will likely address these drawbacks and would come with latest features, fuel efficient engine, better safety options and premium quality interiors in order to improve or at least keep its sales clock ticking in India.

But as announced by the company before, Toyota will focus on establishing its Etios brand for the next two years. We expect the face-lifted Camry to be introduced in mid-2012 but depending on the performance of the Etios,the company may decide to focus its energies in that B segment in 2012 also.

(Photo Courtesy: autoblog.com)