Posted on: Friday, May 13, 2005

Toyota revving up release of its best-selling Camry

By Alan Ohnsman
Bloomberg News Service

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-largest automaker, is speeding the release of its next Camry sedan by at least six months, aiming to keep it the best-selling U.S. car, three industry analysts familiar with the company's plans said.

The 2007 Camry should arrive at dealers as early as February 2006, said analyst Jim Hall, with AutoPacific Inc., basing his comments on talks with Toyota. That would bring the new model to market 4 1/2 years after the current edition's release. Toyota has redesigned the Camry every five years since 1986 and put it on sale around early September each time.

"Shortening the product cycle is one of the ways we can invest in having a more-desirable product," said Jim Press, Toyota's chief operating officer in the U.S., in an interview yesterday. Press declined to comment on Camry directly. "One of our philosophies is to change a car before it gets old."

The Camry has battled Honda Motor Co.'s Accord to remain the top-selling car in the U.S. in seven of the past eight years. The model, which Press called Toyota's "money car," contributed 21 percent of the 2.06 million autos Toyota sold in the U.S. in 2004.

Camry sales, including two-door Solara models, rose 6.3 percent to 138,939 this year through April, according to Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. The Accord fell 1.6 percent to 112,606.

Moving the new model's release to early 2006 will boost Camry sales by mid-year, said Joe Langley, an analyst at CSM Worldwide Inc., based in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

"It will give them a real head start because production will be fully ramped up in time for the spring and summer selling season," Langley said. "There's no reason to stick to a traditional release schedule anymore. When things are ready, they're ready."

Camry will also be the first U.S.-built Toyota gasoline-electric hybrid, according to Hall, Langley and Catherine Madden, who forecasts auto production plans for Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. The analysts based their information on discussions with Toyota and suppliers to the Georgetown, Ky., plant that builds the car.

Toyota has said it will eventually offer hybrid drives in all its top-selling models. It wants to build on the lead it holds in hybrid sales of Prius cars and add a direct competitor to Honda Motor Co.'s gasoline-electric Accord, which went on sale in 2004, Hall said.

"Camry is a natural next step, but we haven't made any decisions," on selling a hybrid version, said John Hanson of Toyota's U.S. sales unit in Torrance, California. Toyota is based in Toyota City, Japan.

"The midsize-sedan segment is moving in that direction, so it would be logical to offer a hybrid Camry," said CSM's Langley. He expects that version to go on sale in mid to late 2006.

In addition to the hybrid Accord, Nissan Motor Co. plans to add a gasoline-electric Altima sedan in the U.S. in 2006. Ford Motor Co., which sells hybrid Escape sport-utility vehicles, has said it will sell hybrid versions of its Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans by 2008.