Younger buyers going for Toyota Camry

TOYOTA Australia claims its latest locally manufactured Camry sedan is shedding the ‘cardigan’ tag and attracting a higher share of younger buyers than its predecessor.

Furthermore, Camry customers are buying more higher-specified variants than before, with a smaller percentage of overall sales comprised of the fleet-friendly Altise variant.

The company says around one-third of total Camry sales are of the ‘sportier’ Atara S, SX and SL models which are targeted at private buyers and business ‘user-choosers’, up from 20 per cent for the equivalent variants in the previous model.

Overall, sales of the Victorian-built Camry four-cylinder range are up 22.9 per cent to the end of September, with the car now in its 19th consecutive year as the top-selling mid-sized vehicle in the country.

Toyota has sold 17,120 units this year, more than three-times as many as the second most popular model in the segment: Honda’s Accord Euro.

Toyota Australia executive director of sales and marketing Matthew Callachor said the trends to a younger demographic and a richer model mix for Camry were significant for the locally manufactured cars.

“There are now significantly more people under 50 buying Camry,” he said, “an increase of more than 20 per cent compared with the previous generation.

“Toyota's strategy is to expand Camry's appeal, especially to younger buyers, by putting more focus on contemporary design and improved driving dynamics.

“It is also important for our business to encourage customers to move up the range to experience even better levels of features and equipment.

“The only surprise is that the shift to a younger buyer profile and more profitable model mix has been more extensive than we imagined.” Toyota Australia employs more than 4000 people and last year built 96,618 vehicles at its Altona manufacturing plant in Victoria.

In addition to local sales, Camry is exported to more than 12 countries, including Saudi Arabia, other Middle East countries and New Zealand, earning export sales revenue in excess of $1 billion a year.