Camry Hybrid Details

[csv8]

Toyota says its Australian-built hybrid uses less fuel than a city runabout.

Australia’s first locally made hybrid car, the Toyota Camry Hybrid, will use less fuel than most small cars and at least 35 per cent less than large car rivals.

With claimed average fuel consumption of 6.0 litres per 100km, the full-sized four-door sedan promises to save buyers who travel an average 20,000km a year at least $400 in fuel bills and the environment 1.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

With fuel at $2 a litre those savings would jump to more than $600 a year, giving Toyota a clear marketing edge and helping justify the $7000 price premium over the cheapest four-cylinder Camry.




Describing the launch as “one of the most significant events in Toyota Australia’s 50-year history”, Toyota Australia senior executive director of sales and marketing David Buttner said the Camry Hybrid would change the shape of Australian-made large cars.

“The launch of the Hybrid Camry will spark a revolution in hybrid motoring,” said Buttner.

“It opened doors we did not know existed. This is not another Camry, this is a revolution in our thinking.”

Buttner said the Camry Hybrid was crucial to Toyota’s Australia’s future and pivotal to the brand’s quest to deliver a hybrid version of every model in its range by 2020 and at least 1 million hybrids around the world each year.

“We believe they are likely to form the core of the auto market in future.”

The Camry Hybrid will sell from $36,990, plus on-road costs, undercutting the base price of the entry-level Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore it will compete with.

Already proving popular with fleet buyers keen to sprout their green image, more than 1000 Camry Hybrids have been ordered.

Based on a regular Camry, the Camry Hybrid teams a generator and electric drive motor with a 2.4-litre four-cylinder, delivering six-cylinder performance with economy better than most four-cylinders.

The electric motor blend with the 110kW petrol engine to deliver a combined total output of 140kW. Toyota says the improved mid-range response of the engine delivers performance not far off some six-cylinders.

It drives through a continuously variable transmission with an infinite number of ratios, giving seamless acceleration.

The 6.0L/100km fuel figures is less than the most economical small car on the market, Volkswagen’s entry-level Golf and better than many light cars, such as Toyota’s own Yaris and rivals from Mazda and Hyundai.

Like the Hybrid Camry that’s already built in three other factories and found 180,000 homes around the world, the Australian Camry Hybrid gets a unique front bumper and a flat floor to improve airflow under the car.

The Camry Hybrid looks almost identical to the regular Camry, but with a new grille, blue-tinged headlights and the obligatory hybrid badges.

Other fuel saving changes include an electric power steering system.

Inside, there’s a unique instrument cluster that details the operation of the hybrid system. Blue-tinged lights (Toyota calls them octopus rings) circling the main dials in the instrument cluster change from light blue to deep blue depending on how economically the car is being driven.

The boot of the Camry Hybrid is slightly smaller due to placement of a large 244 battery cell, but Toyota has managed to maintain a full-sized spare tyre and a small load through hole for longer items.

Chief engineer Yukihiro Okane says the Camry Hybrid can carry four golf bags.

The Camry Hybrid will be available in two trim levels; an entry level model and a better equipped Luxury variant costing $39,990, with the latter getting powered leather seats, rain sensing wipers and a rear spoiler.

Toyota says tweaks to the Hybrid Camry’s suspension means it is more agile and has a better ride than the regular Camry.

The cheapest model gets six airbags, stability control, a reversing camera, parking sensors, cruise control and electric air-conditioning. Bluetooth and satellite navigation are available in an optional pack that costs $3000. A similar pack for the luxury model costs $4500 and includes a sunroof.

Toyota dismisses claims it is asking a $7000 premium for the hybrid technology. It says the hybrid model has similar features to the more upmarket Camry Ateva, which costs $32,490. The company says that when the extra equipment in the Camry hybrid is taken into account, the premium for the electric motor is just $2000.