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28/08/2011
By EWAN KENNEDY
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Hot on the heels of an over-the-top global reveal at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, Toyota Australia has shown Australian media the all-new Camry range.
This is an extremely important model for Toyota Australia as Camry is built in this country, at Altona in Melbourne. Not only a big seller in Australia, but also exported to many other markets, Toyota Camry provides many thousands of jobs to Australians.
New Camry doesn’t go on sale here till late in the year and at this stage all we have seen in the metal is a pre-production model. The car displayed is unique to Australia and is the opening shot in what Toyota is calling its Atara range.
Aimed at pushing aside the criticism that Camry is a sensible car aimed only at practical buyers, the Atara range will consist of several sporty variants. It’s far from being a full-on sports sedan, but with a mild body kit, alloy wheels and a little more power it will lift it away from other Camrys.
The Camry Atara displayed at TSA (Toyota Style Australia) had a black mesh main grille and a central-lower front bumper design that, with a bit of imagination, could be compared to the frontal shape of the Toyota Formula One car. Unfortunately for the stylists, Toyota has now pulled out of F1.
Keen to ramp up interest in the new Camry months before it goes on sale, Toyota is withholding photos of the interior of the car. However, if you care to chase it up on internet sites in the USA you will see what the American interior looks like. Australian cars may be different to this, but it’s hard to see the changes being huge.
The body is similar in size to the one on the soon to be superseded Camry, but Toyota explains that considerable work has been done to increase the interior length of the cabin. The big beneficiaries will be those sitting in the back seat, where 46 mm more legroom is promised.
Toyota Australia has long seen its Camry as being a full-on competitor for the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon and this stretched interior will do it no harm whatsoever in the sales race.
As well as the all-new body Toyota will introduce a new-design engine. This time with a capacity of 2.5 litres, up from the 2.4 litres of the current engine. Toyota promises it will produce more power yet use less fuel than the about to be discontinued powerplant.
Consumption and emissions are said to be down by as much as ten per cent, due not only to the new powertrain, but also to body changes. Considerable work has been done on smoothing the airflow under the car, as well as, of course, on the visible panels.
Initially this engine will be imported from Japan, but work is underway on a new Australian factory so the engine, too, will be Australian made.
The engine will sit beside a six-speed automatic transmission, up from five forward ratios on the current Camry.
Standby for full technical information and drive impressions when we return from our review of the all-new Toyota Camry late in December. |
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