Toyota Camry - going from strength to strength

Although the Camry wasn’t the best-selling model in its segment, it quickly gained popularity.

Then in 1999, Toyota started to assemble the fourth-generation Camry in Thailand. From then onwards, sales of the Toyota Camry increased continuously to the same level as its competitors.

The strongest rival of the Camry in Thailand is the Honda Accord, while the Teana (previously the Cefiro) tries to occasionally steal market share from the first two.

But it can be said that the midsized Japanese car market in Thailand belongs to the Camry and Accord. Even brands that are not direct rivals of these two but have similar products had to withdraw from the Thai market one by one.

As a result, the Bt1.5-million market segment now has few players due to the big shots like the Camry and Accord. The Peugeot 406, Volkswagen Passat or the Mitsubishi Galant all said goodbye.

With only one major rival being left standing, Toyota decided to upgrade the Camry further in order to expand its customer base. It introduced the hybrid version of the Camry, and increased the retail price by only a small margin when compared to the gasoline version, thanks to the Thai government’s tax support for hybrid vehicles.

The strategy paid off beautifully for Toyota. Apart from increasing the number of customers, at the same time Toyota has been able to popularise its strong point, which is hybrid technology.

Since the Camry has enough loyal customers, putting in the hybrid powertrain quickly gave consumers the confidence about the new technology. Production of the Camry Hybrid commenced in Thailand in 2009.

Last week, Toyota launched the seventh generation Camry (fifth generation in Thailand), and it was clear that the future of the Camry has been totally rejuvenated. It has now embarked on a journey that no other competitor can get in the way, with a total of five models being offered.

Three of the five models launched were hybrid models, leaving only the 2-litre model and the 2.5-litre models as pure petrol. The hybrid, meanwhile, comes with a 2.5-litre petrol engine plus electric motors, and is available in three trim levels.

As mentioned, the only rival of the Camry in Thailand is the Accord, which is not available in hybrid version. So it is likely that Toyota is confident the two petrol engine choices for the Camry are adequate to compete against the Accord. Meanwhile, it would concentrate on the hybrid, which has no competitor in the market whatsoever.

Toyota is the biggest player in the hybrid market in the world, and its hybrid powertrain is also used in many Lexus models as well.

The highly attractive pricing may make even the Prius hybrid look expensive. The Prius may be a highly popular model overseas, but its futuristic design may not match the taste of Thai customers who are more used to the Camry styling. Thus it is easier to increase the hybrid population by selling the Camry than the Prius, which is more appealing to younger customers.

With Toyota’s full support for the Camry Hybrid, it would be interesting to follow how it grows in the market.

As more units are produced and sold, Toyota will be able to lower production costs further, as well as the mechanic training cost and after-sales servicing cost, apart from others.

This will ensure that Toyota maintains total domination in the hybrid car market.