First Look: Toyota Camry Hybrid gets a refresh
Toyota has made smart tweaks to the Hybrid sedan, improving design and comfort
One of Toyota’s best-sellers in the US and China, the Camry sedan is strictly a niche car here. Ever the bridesmaid to Honda’s Accord, things changed when Toyota decided to assemble the Camry in India. What took things to the next level was when Toyota became the first car maker to locally assemble a hybrid version as well, in India.
This brought the price of the Camry Hybrid closer to the regular version, and the move was so successful that 73% of all Camrys sold in India now are hybrids. Customers love the fact that the vehicle is more efficient, greener, is packed with exclusive features, and rides and drives like a regular car.
In the past, the look of the Camry has alternated between mild and wild, so it’s par for the course that a mild Camry is now followed by, well, a wild one. Just look at the size of that air dam, and the chrome frame around the grille. Toyota designers have also moved the main, slot-like grille higher up on the nose, there are LED daytime-running lights and there’s an LED main headlamp as well. The top of the bonnet gets a mild power dome and the turning lights are placed at an angle in front of the wheel arch. Some designs don’t translate well into three dimensions, but this really works well. And so does the small change at the rear, where Toyota has made the bumper a bit wider at its base.
The interiors are similar to the previous generation car. This is one of Toyota’s best dashboards—interesting, beautifully layered, and with improved material. We particularly like the way wood and chrome accents work together, and the fact that nothing feels old-fashioned. There’s also a new colour information display at the centre of the instrument panel, which can be controlled easily with the buttons on the steering wheel. As in the earlier car, the rear gets its own temperature setting, the rear-seat backs recline up to eight degrees. While you do sit a bit on the lower side, it is comfortable.
There aren’t too many changes when sitting behind the wheel. The car still takes off beautifully with electric motor assist at low speeds, and the instant dollop of torque from the word go feels gratifying. And you do feel the combined force of 202 bhp from the engine when you accelerate hard as well. What’s also particularly impressive is the seamless integration of electric motor and petrol engine.
Toyota has made a couple of other changes too—the cabin now is much better insulated from both road noise and engine sound and the suspension is a bit more supple because of the recalibration of the valves in the dampers. Now, the low-speed ride is a bit better as well. The handling, however, has become a bit soft, with not enough steering feedback as earlier. The Camry still turns in well and the poise of the car is good; it’s just that the tyres run out of grip around corners.
Now mildly improved over the earlier version, the updated Camry Hybrid is a perfectly agreeable and practical large executive sedan. It’s now better suited to its role as a quasi-luxury car—it rides better, is better insulated, and with ₹ 70,000 rebate via the Union government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles initiative, is better value too.
At ₹ 31.92 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi), the Camry Hybrid facelift isn’t exactly cheap, but consider the comfort and luxury, the unique fuel-saving technology, the size and space on offer, and the Camry looks like quite an attractive proposition.
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First Published:12 May 2015, 08:14 PM IST
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