Toyota to end Camry sales in Japan, ending 43-year history
Nagoya: Toyota Motor plans to discontinue sales of the Camry sedan in the Japanese market, focusing on countries where the automaker’s 43-year-old flagship model remains popular.
Toyota has notified Japanese dealerships that it will cease production of the Camry for domestic customers at the end of the year. Production will continue for exports.
Domestic sales will end in phases, and Toyota already has halted taking most new orders. New Camry models under development will be sold exclusively to foreign markets.
The Camry, whose name comes from the Japanese word for “crown,” is manufactured mainly in the U.S., China and the Tsutsumi Plant in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture. Like the Corolla, the sedan is Toyota’s global strategic car.
Toyota has sold about 1.3 million Camrys in Japan since the vehicle debuted in 1980. The sedan retails domestically between 3.49 million yen and 4.68 million yen ($26,400 to $35,450).
The model sells in over 100 countries, with more than 21 million units purchased cumulatively through the end of 2022, data from Toyota and automotive information provider MarkLines shows. Toyota fully redesigned the Camry and released the current 10th-generation model in 2017.
The Camry is especially popular in the U.S., where more than 13 million units have sold. American consumers favor the Camry for its reliability, ease of operation and roomy interior.
The Camry ranked as the top-selling passenger vehicle in the U.S. for 15 straight years through 2016. It is known as a go-to model for the relatively high resale value it commands in the used car market.
In China and Southeast Asia, the Camry is seen as an aspirational car for its high-end image.
The Toyota RAV4 snatched the U.S. sales crown from the Camry in 2017, as sport utility vehicles have taken off in recent years.
But the Camry still enjoys steady demand, as global sales of the sedan last year totaled around 600,000 units.
Japan is a different story, however. Fewer than 6,000 Camrys sold in the market last year, due partly to the semiconductor shortage. SUVs and minivans have become more popular in Japan to hurt demand for sedans. Last year, Nissan Motor ended production of the Fuga and Honda Motor terminated the Legend.
The Camry shares similar designs and customer demographics to the all-new Toyota Crown, which launched last year. Toyota apparently has determined that the Camry has completed its role in Japan and will concentrate on tailoring the sedan for the international market.
