Toyota Camry - All New Again

Toyota's Camry is, along with the Honda Accord, the poster child for midsize family sedan in America. Hundreds of thousands pass through dealers to happy customers every year. Yet, change must come, and another generation of the Camry has arrived once again for 2012.

As the home of the Prius, Toyota has for years now offered a Hybrid version of the Camry, and I had the good fortune to drive one recently. The news is good. Although, for various reasons, the Camry can't touch the Prius for fuel economy, it nevertheless earned an impressive 35.6 miles per gallon during its week with me. I didn't drive it especially gently or carefully either. Seventy on the interstate, zipping through in-town traffic, and that's what I got.

Spending time in a Camry, while never a thrill, has always been pleasant, and the new car notches that up a bit. The trim feels a bit more upscale, and the seats feel more European-style firm. The dash has stitching along its edges--but when it meets the doors, they disappear. At the bottom of the dash center console, two plastic stitch "replicas" visually continue the look. That's what makes a Camry less than a Lexus; inside the latter, the stitching would be real throughout.

I liked the bright blue rings on the gauges--I'm not sure, but they may be part of the Hybrid package. Blue, it turns out, is the way manufacturers like to present "green." Think Mercedes Bluetec, for example.

The Hybrid gauges show where the energy is coming from and give a view into the battery's behavior. At the end of each trip you get graded, too. On my last trip, a commute to work, I earned 43.9 mpg and an "Excellent." Gee, thanks, Camry.

The easiest-to-buy Camry L starts at $22,715. My Hybrid XLE (the upper version) ran $34,617. But it had packages added, included the Leather package with ultrasuede seating (sweet).

Now in it's seventh generation, the Camry remains clean and conservative, but with a subtle, careful restyling and some surprisingly sharp-looking taillights, it keeps up a nearly 30-year tradition.

First 2012 Camry Sighting!

The Toyota Camry is not an exciting car, however, numerous generations of it have been so successful since 1983 that they are everywhere you look. But the 2012 model is brand new and I just saw my first one "in the flesh" yesterday.

It was in the next lane over to the right, so I saw the new taillamps first, then looked at the shaping of the tail and up the sides.I caught a peek at its face in my right rearview mirror. Shortly after, it took the exit and I saw it roll away into the distance.

Although I knew what the new car looked like from photos, it was different full-size in three dimensions. Cars are real things, and seeing them helps you understand better why they were designed the way they were. They're commercial art, and you know that a bestseller like the Camry gets careful attention in the studio. What it normally doesn't get is anything too advanced or wild--but that's not its job.

I've enjoyed "first sightings" since I learned about cars from my father as a kid. We drove along identifying the cars on the road by make, model and year together. I saw the new cars at the dealership (sometimes in the back lot, before introduction) and spent lots of time studying the drawings enticingly laid out in Motor Trend. Thanks to the Internet and spy photography, there are few secrets anymore, but that first sighting is always a little special--even if it's a Toyota Camry (which is much nicer than the photos would lead you to believe).

Toyota--an American Car Company

Everybody knows (I think) that Toyota is a huge Japanese company. However, what may be less obvious is how much impact they have on the U.S. economy--and how many people they employ here. According to a little brochure I got with my most recent Toyota vehicle loan, the company has created 365,000 jobs, invested $18 billion, built nearly 1 million vehicles and given away $539 million dollars for philanthropic reasons. Check out their history in the U.S.

There are 1,506 Toyota, Scion and Lexus dealers across the country selling and servicing cars, many of them made in the American midwest. The midsize leader, Camry, has streamed out of the Georgetown, Kentucky plant since 1988, and they've built the Hybrid model there for the last five years. Georgetown also builds the Avalon (since 1994) and Venza crossover (since 2008). It helps that those vehicles share a platform.

They build Tacoma and Tundra pickups in south central Texas, the Sequoia SUV, Highlander SUV and Sienna minivan in Indiana, and will start moving Corollas out of the new Mississippi plant this year (see photo).

Those numerous facilities have a big impact on their communties, both because they order large qualtities of parts and services from regional suppliers but also in providing customers for the businesses in those communities. The new plant in Mississippi will hire about 2,000 workers but will add more than that indirectly in purchases of parts such as suspension components, glass, bumpers, seats and door panels. Think of how many of those factory employees will be shopping the local Walmart, depositing money in local banks, and getting their hair cut at the mall.

Toyota has the Calty Design Center in Southern California that's had a lot of say in how the American Toyotas look and feel since it was established in 1973.

Fifteen states boast major Toyota business and there's still more spread out around the country.

It's pretty impressive.

New Toyota Camry Arrives

The Toyota Camry isn't a car that one gets wildly excited about. After all, it's been the best selling car in the U.S. in 13 of the last 14 years and more than nine million have gone to happy owners since its debut in 1983. But they've just announced the brand new 2012 model.

The thing is, the Camry is ubiquitous and everpresent. I always seem to be behind one on the bridge on the way to work. They come in neutral colors. And this new one, while contemporary, breaks no new ground. It actually seems more simple and conservative than the previous model, which flaunted some unusual body detailing, especially around the wheels and at the tail.

Of course, I'll have to test one in person and see the car in three dimensions. Something tells me that this essentially all-American car, built in Georgetown, Kentucky for a quarter of a century, will rack up another best-selling year.

Besides, the new Camry is set to be the pace car for next year's Daytona 500! How all-American is that?