Don’t tell Toyota sedans are dead. Yes, SUVs and crossovers the majority of their business with a jam packed line up that is growing to eight models with the introduction of the new Crown Signia. But Toyota sold more than 230,000 Camrys through October of this year and is on pace to see a 2% growth in sales year over year. These aren’t inexpensive cars and their contribution to the bottom line is consequential. Camry’s average transaction price is hovering right around $30,000. So to say Camry is important to Toyota is like saying Star Wars is important to Disney.
Toyota took the wraps off its 9th generation Camry last week in Westlake, California – a northern suburb of Los Angeles. We won’t get to drive it for a while, but we can say from what we’ve seen, this is a step up from the current generation in style, sophistication, comfort, and efficiency.
A Step Up In Style
For 2025, the team at CALTY, Toyota’s design center in Orange County, massaged Camry’s sheetmetal in a way that is more organic, sporting, and fresh. This is not and all-new car. Aside from the new hybrid system, very little has changed under the sheetmetal. It still uses Toyota’s TNGA architecture, though the suspension, brakes, and steering have been retuned to work better with the hybrid system. Most of their attention has been spent on reworking the exterior styling and interior appointments. And it shows.
While Toyota has not shared dimensions yet, overall the Camry looks lower, wider, and maybe a bit longer. Toyota’s north American design director, Kevin Hunter, said the goal was to create a look that was between a sport coupe and a sedan. The biggest change is at the front end. Gone is the pinched nose look and in its place is a clean, contemporary fascia that has more in common with the new Prius than the old Camry. Slim daytime running lights and compact LED headlights are pushed way out to the edge to create a greater sense of width. New LED lighting at the rear accomplishes the same. There don’t appear to be huge changes in the doors and side panels from the A-pillar back.
An Inside Job
Open the doors and you’ll find bigger changes in the interior. The dash and center console have been completely reworked featuring a new more horizontal touch screen. The overall effect is to create a greater sense of width and openness. The driver and passenger seats are still separated by a center console, but feel more connected thanks to the revised center stack. The seats have been redesigned for greater comfort. The seat cushion has been lengthened and reshape to offer more under thigh support and the density of the cushion has been changed as well. In addition, the headrest has been moved back and made softer to enhance comfort.
LE grade Camrys will receive a woven fabric on the panels and seat surfaces while the premium XLE grade will get leather and microfiber-trimmed seats in either light gray or black with a quilted pattern on the front door panels and dashboard. The sportier SE grade comes is available in boulder or black with Toyota’s SofTex faux leather trimmed seats. The XSE goes for a real leather-trimmed interior with perforations on both the side door trim and seating surfaces. The XSE interior is available in two colors: black with blue lined perforations or cockpit red. The multi-function steering wheel is unchanged from 2024. Both the SE and XSE grades have a a leather-wrapped steering wheel with paddle shifters. You’ll also find standard aluminum sport pedals.
One Engine Option (for now)
Toyota is committed to a fully electrified fleet and as such the new Camry has only one powertrain option available. The mild hybrid system combines a 2.5L gas engine with two electric motors to produce 225 horsepower in front wheel drive via a CVT transmission. With a third motor mounted in back, the AWD Camry makes 232 horsepower and this system will be available on all grades, so you don’t have to spend big bucks to get the benefits of AWD. This is the 5th generation of Toyota’s hybrid system and this particular configuration has been available in Sienna, Venza, and Crown.
Expect power and acceleration to be adequate with this package. It’s more powerful that the outgoing base engine. We will, however, miss the 300 horsepower V6 that is currently available in the Camry XSE. Hopefully Toyota will give us the the 2.4L turbo Hybrid Max set up that’s in the Crown for drivers who like their Camry’s caffeinated. When pressed about it at the event, Toyota officials did not rule this out, so we can still hope.
The Proof Will Be In The Driving
Toyota used a lot of the right words in describing the new Camry saying it will, “appeal to car enthusiasts who enjoy the thrill of driving.” This claim is made mostly due to the powertrain that will deliver more torque at lower RPM and the tuning they’ve done to the steering, suspension and brakes. While we’re not naive enough to expect Camry XSE this to compete with the BMW M5 or even a Hyundai Elantra N when it comes to driving dynamics, we’ll wait until we drive it to pass judgement. In the meantime, the enthusiasts on our staff are hoping they’ll offer a TRD edition with the Hybrid Max powertrain and a direct shift six-speed automatic sometime in the future. We won’t be holding our collective breath.
