Toyota launches the all-new Camry in India at INR 23.8 Lakhs

Toyota Kirloskar Motor recently launched the all-new Camry in India at a price of INR 23.8 Lakhs, ex-showroom Delhi. At the moment, the Camry is available in just one variant with the customers being offered a host of accessories to choose from and personalize the car to their tastes. A palette of four colors are available on sale. With this new model, the Camry marks a departure from Toyota's typically bland and sober looks. The new model looks aggressive by Toyota's standards and at the same time, doesn't lose a bit of its elegance. The frontal design of the new Camry can easily pass off as a Lexus with the sharp-cut trapezoidal headlights and the huge radiator grille. The triangular fog lamps with chrome surround adds more character. The chunky and muscular C-Pillar is definitely the attention grabber when the car is viewed in profile while the rear end is dominated by large LED taillights and a thick chrome strip.

The new Camry is powered by a new 2.5-liter gasoline engine that produces 181 PS of maximum power at 6000 rpm and 233 Nm of peak torque at 4100 rpm. Coupled with a 6-speed sequential shift automatic gearbox, Toyota claims that the new Camry is more powerful and economical than the outgoing model that was powered by a 2.4-liter engine. No manual transmission variant is offered and it remains to be seen whether Toyota would launch one, given the increasing preference for automatic variants in this segment. Just like the Hyundai Sonata, one of it's prime competitors, the Camry isn't available with a diesel engine anywhere else in the world and so, India wouldn't be getting one too. That leaves us with just the 'Hybrid' variant for a potential launch in the future, provided the Indian Government extends some tax benefits and rebates. Toyota won't like seeing it suffer the same fate as Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid in India.

Though the new Camry comes loaded with a lot of features, recent launches in this segment like the Hyundai Sonata have taken the game forward so much that the Camry pales in comparison. But Toyota knows that the Camry has its own following in India who will buy the car for its legacy and nothing else. In fact, Toyota is so confident of the new Camry's success that it has priced it at the same level as the older model despite the new model being assembled at the company's facility in Bangalore. This is the 7th generation of Camry globally and the 3rd generation to be offered in India since the brand was first introduced. The importance of Camry to Toyota need not be explained as this and the Corolla together bring up more than half of Toyota's global sales. The Camry remains the largest selling car in USA for more than a decade now and is also hugely popular in other countries such as Japan, Australia and Middle East.