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Toyota has redesigned the 2018 Camry from the ground up, with 100 percent new parts for the first time since the car’s introduction 35 years ago, Bloomberg reports, quoting chief engineer Masato Katsumata in an interview in Newberg, Oregon.
Usually, only about a third of the parts are new with each subsequent model and the rest are carried over.
According to Jim Lentz, Toyota Motor Corp.’s North American chief executive officer, the redesign “definitely has the possibility to stabilize” Camry sales.
This is the company’s master plan to stem the tide of buyers abandoning sedans in droves in favour of the new American family car: the sport utility vehicle (SUV)
The Camry is still Toyota’s second-best seller in the U.S., behind the RAV4 SUV, and executives are banking that the model’s revamp keeps it that way.
Prices for the 2018 model Camry will range from $23,495 for a bare-bones, four-cylinder model to $34,950 for a top-of-the-line V-6 XSE, according to a statement released Wednesday. That’s a $900 average increase for the mid-range LE and SE versions, said Jack Hollis, group vice president for U.S. sales. Additional features include a stiffer body and double-wishbone rear suspension for sportier driving, an eight-speed transmission and electronic sensors that detect pedestrians passing in front of the car.
The hybrid LE option gets a combined 52 miles per gallon in city and highway driving, almost matching the Prius Prime plug-in hybrid. The Camry hybrid’s battery is thin enough to be stowed under its rear seat instead of in the trunk, helping lower the car’s center of gravity and allowing the hybrid to perform better on a racetrack than its V6 stablemate, Katsumata said.