The Toyota Avensis is dead, long live the… Camry?! THE Toyota Camry it will return to dealers in the Old Continent, taking the place of the Avensis and with a single hybrid engine.
The European Camry will be imported from Japan — the Avensis was produced in England — and will feature the same hybrid solution sold on Japanese soil. That is, an in-line four-cylinder with 2.5 l gasoline (Atkinson cycle), with 178 hp and 221 Nm, supported by an electric motor of 120 hp and 202 Nm; with the two engines delivering a total of 211 hp, combined with a CVT box.
As a platform, Camry uses the same TNGA solution that underpins the Prius, CH-R and RAV4, as well as the new generation Auris.
World leader
The Toyota Camry to be marketed here is the eighth generation of the model — the first generation appeared in 1982. It is currently sold in more than 100 countries, with cumulative sales exceeding 19 million units since the first generation. The Toyota Camry is also the best-selling D/R segment in the world, selling at a rate of over 700,000 units annually.
In Japan, where different parameters are applied in the emissions tests, the Toyota Camry announces values between 70 and 85 g/km of CO2.
In Europe, thinking about fleets
Available only as a four-door saloon, the Camry will try, once it arrives in Europe, to tap into a segment of the generalist medium family that has been declining over the past few years. Even Toyota only sold 25 147 Avensis in 2017, against 120 436 sold in 2005, reveal data from JATO Dynamics.
Also according to a Toyota spokesperson, the model will be aimed mainly “for fleets”, appealing with the low CO2 emissions of the model. The eighth generation that will arrive in Europe in the first quarter of 2019, was known last year, and has as one of its arguments its generous dimensions — more E segment than D —, given what is the benchmark in the segment in Europe — the Volkswagen Passat, with a length of 4.767 mm, against the 4.885 mm of the Japanese car.
As equipment, the Japanese Camry has a head-up display, rear traffic alert with autonomous braking and warning of other cars in the blind spot.
