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Toyota Camry America's top-selling car is in danger of losing its title

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Old 07-18-13, 03:52 PM
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SNiiP3R
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Default Toyota Camry America's top-selling car is in danger of losing its title

Toyota Camry fights Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Ford Fusion to remain America's best-selling car
Facing increasing sales gains from the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, and Ford Fusion, the Toyota Camry is fighting to keep its spot as the best selling car in America. Having been a top seller for more than a decade, the Toyota Camry is going through a series of discounts and price cuts to help evade massive gains, including the Accord, which trailed the Camry sales by 21,000 at the end of June, compare to 59,000 at the same time last year.
The rest of the article here,
http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/toy...icle-1.1402870
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Old 07-18-13, 04:11 PM
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It's the epitome of blandness. Boring to look at and boring to drive. Everything else out there has so much more character. It's definitely in need of an emergency refresh ala the Civic. Criticize Honda as much as some of us do on there, even Honda apparently knows when they've gone horribly wrong. I hope Toyota realizes too, except it's still the #1 seller. Heh
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Old 07-18-13, 07:35 PM
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Camry, Accord, Altima, Fusion, not a bad one in the bunch all are very competitive and it really comes down to personal taste. Let's not forget there's also Passat, Optima, Sonata, Malibu and Mazda6. What a group
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Old 07-18-13, 08:11 PM
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It's the most competitive segment of the auto industry and right now every model is a great choice. That's never been the case before.

The big question for Toyota is where to take Camry next. What if the masses buying Camry's don't want a flashy car like the Fusion or Altima? Maybe they want a vanilla car? Or, do most Camry buyers buy the car because well, it's a Camry?

I'm already waiting to see if the newly stylish 2014 Corolla actually loses sales to people who want a conservative car. Look at this past month's best seller, the Cruze. It's the other conservatively styled car of the segment. Coincidence?

I think Toyota needs to play it carefully as they've always done but can still add excitement to the design. The Avalon is a good direction. Just don't expect Toyota to pull a Hyundai Sonata on us. I don't think Camry buyers are looking for that.

Last edited by -J-P-L-; 07-19-13 at 04:06 AM.
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Old 07-18-13, 08:14 PM
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They always said "uneasy rests the head that wears the crown." Toyota shouldn't be ashamed if they lose the sales leader title. The market is incredibly fierce right now and the Camry has reigned supreme for a very long time.
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Old 07-19-13, 01:43 AM
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The new Fusion looks so much better and to be honest, the new Accord is pretty decent looking for what will be the belly button of cars. Its ruff in one of the most competitive segments and I just don't feel like the Camry is that far ahead of the segment. The design is great but not as clearly superior as it has been in the past
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Old 07-19-13, 04:15 AM
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If it's going to happen, I don't think it will be lost this year. Next year could be a possibility though.

The Accord trails by 21,000 units so far. They'd have to beat the Camry for each of the remaining 6 months by an average of 3500 units. That's not going to happen. The Accord hasn't been ahead of the Camry in each of the first 6, why would it suddenly swing that far in favor of Accord now?
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Old 07-19-13, 07:08 AM
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not a popular choice but id take the mazda 6 over all the others in that category
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Old 07-19-13, 07:58 AM
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I'm betting that the heavily refreshed/redesigned Camry debuts pretty early next year - around July or so.
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Old 07-19-13, 08:31 AM
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Originally Posted by DrDrilZ
not a popular choice but id take the mazda 6 over all the others in that category
agree. saw a gray one from a distance behind this week and it looked a bit like an es. nice style for sure. not bland enough to be really successful.
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Old 07-19-13, 09:03 AM
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I actually really like the new Camry's exterior. It looks pretty cool in black. I'd love to get a black SE and slam it on some nice 19"s.

The other cars in the segment are all pretty good cars though. I figured the Camry was beating the others by a landslide judging by how many new ones I see on the road.
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Old 07-19-13, 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by bitkahuna
agree. saw a gray one from a distance behind this week and it looked a bit like an es. nice style for sure. not bland enough to be really successful.
Yeah, it's a really good looking car. I've been seeing a lot of them around.
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Old 07-19-13, 12:09 PM
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The Camry's biggest problem, despite its admittedly huge sales numbers, is that Toyota, IMO, has never come out with a true replacement to the superb 3Gen 1992-1996 model. The 3Gen Camry was essentially a luxury-grade car (in comfort/ride/noise-isolation) at a family-sedan price....and was extremely well-built at that. Newer versions, for years, have shown more cheapening and use of thinner parts with each design. Interior quality also went downhill in later designs, which was at least partially-addressed in the latest version. But the latest version, while addressing some interior complaints, also stiffened up the suspension/tires too much, especially with the non-SE models that aren't supposed to be sport-oriented. So, yes, it's not surprising that sales are going down.

Last edited by mmarshall; 07-19-13 at 12:12 PM.
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Old 07-19-13, 12:23 PM
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I own a current gen 2012, and think it can hold its own for the next couple years and not need a Civic esque emergency refresh. Looks are nothing special, interior is crap IMHO though i do love the touchscreen which is my favorite upgrade from my past 2004 camry. I do wish I would have waited a year to check out the new Accord but i really dislike the feel and noise of CVT's.
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Old 07-19-13, 12:48 PM
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Originally Posted by lamar411
I own a current gen 2012, and think it can hold its own for the next couple years and not need a Civic esque emergency refresh. Looks are nothing special, interior is crap IMHO though i do love the touchscreen which is my favorite upgrade from my past 2004 camry. I do wish I would have waited a year to check out the new Accord but i really dislike the feel and noise of CVT's.


If you don't like CVTs (and I'm usually not a big fan of them either), top-line Accord EX-L and Touring V6 sedans come with a conventional 6-speed sport-shift automatic. 6-speed manuals are available on LX/Sport and 4-cylinder EX models. And EX-L V6 coupes offer something quite unusual today....the V6 with the 6-speed manual.
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