Mid-size sedans are in a sales slump, and Toyota arguably has a lot to lose. The company has long dominated the segment (and the market as a whole) with its Camry, the top-selling passenger car in the United States for 15 years running. And it hopes to buck the trend with its redesigned 2018 Camry family, which was revealed earlier this month at the Detroit auto show.
The latest Camry was developed, Toyota said, to deliver an improved driving experience. To that end, it is a clean-slate design, including its mechanicals and its more expressive styling. The car is claimed to have more space-efficient interior packaging, thanks in part to its fresh Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) underpinnings. To make sure there’s a Camry for all, the lineup remains diversified, with Dynamic Force four-cylinder engines anchoring the bottom, a V-6 remaining on offer, and a Camry hybrid that is poised to be more enticing to buyers than ever.
The Camry hybrid will pack a fully re-engineered version of Toyota’s latest hybrid system, THS II, which takes advantage of the efficiency gains in the latest Prius. Toyota has poured a large amount of effort into the powertrain, aiming to rejuvenate sales of the Camry hybrid even as gas prices have remained low and sales of the variant have dropped to about five percent of total Camry sales.
“I think, with the improvements made in this generation of the hybrids, we’re expecting the hybrid mix go back up, probably to 10 to 12 percent,” said Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motor North America. “Because there are some significant improvements, and it’s not only in efficiency but in the drivability of the car.”
One part of the strategy is to offer more versions of the Camry hybrid. Just as it did for the latest Prius, the automaker is planning to carry over the tried-and-true nickel-metal hydride battery technology for a base model to offer it at a very attractive price, while other versions of the hybrid sedan will have a new lithium-ion battery pack that saves weight. That could produce excellent fuel-economy ratings, not just for a focused efficiency Eco trim but also potentially for top-tier models that otherwise may have suffered from the added weight of their feature content.
Efficiency vs. Affordability
In the Prius, all trim levels except the base Two have lithium-ion batteries. In the case of both the Camry and the Prius, both battery packs are engineered to fit under the back seat. As to weight savings, the lithium-ion pack in the Prius Two Eco, for example, cuts 65 pounds from the non-Eco Prius Two.
For the first time, the Camry hybrid also will offer a Sport mode that activates simulated gearshifts; Camry hybrid SE and XSE versions will feature steering-wheel paddle shifters. Chief engineer Masato Katsumata called the new Camry hybrid the best-driving Camry variant and implied we can expect fewer handling compromises versus conventionally powered cars than before, since Toyota made adjustments to the battery placement to improve weight distribution.
One thing Toyota decided not to do was downsize the gasoline four-cylinder engine in the hybrid. It uses essentially the same version of the 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine as in other versions of the Camry, albeit tuned differently. It’s a large four-cylinder engine, but one that achieves thermal efficiency that can exceed 40 percent, Toyota said. We asked Katsumata why Toyota didn’t opt for a downsized engine in the hybrid, and he said it was because fuel efficiency would have plummeted beyond the gentlest driving. “That is why we don’t combine a 1.5-liter engine—if you drive with very sporty or dynamic performance, that’s not a solution for us,” he said.
To 50 MPG? Or Better?
The mileage on the window sticker will, of course, play a big role in the hybrid’s market appeal. The outgoing 2017 Camry hybrid returns up to 42 mpg city and 38 mpg highway, with a combined rating of 40 mpg. Toyota is making noises about a 20 percent improvement in the new powertrain—which would mean 50 mpg in the city (or potentially better) for the 2018 hybrid.
Toyota officials were not talking specific numbers yet—or discussing the potential of a plug-in-hybrid (Prime) version down the line—but they have said that the Camry will get class-leading fuel economy, and they surely have the Honda Accord hybrid and its 49-mpg city and 48-mpg combined ratings in the crosshairs. The 2014 Accord hybrid had earned 50 mpg, although, despite Honda’s claim of improved mileage in a reworked 2017 model, it was nudged back under the 50-mpg mark because of the new federal adjustment factor.
The outgoing 2017 Camry hybrid is available in LE, SE, and XLE versions and starts at $27,655. Pricing and trim details for the new car remain a few months out, but Toyota has already specified that the regular 2018 model will be offered in LE, XLE, SE, and XSE grades. Don’t be surprised if there’s a hybridized version of each of those.
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