Toyota and Honda are among the automakers that are seeing rising take rates for sportier versions of mainstream sedans and hatchbacks — a trend that’s emerging as utility vehicles and pickups make up about 80 per cent of all new-vehicle sales in Canada.
The Toyota Camry, once the poster car for sensible transportation, is on the verge of becoming a sport sedan. Since its 2018 redesign, sales of the SE and XSE trims now make up more than twothirds of all nonhybrid Camry sales, up from less than a third, said Toyota Canada spokeswoman Danielle Petruccelli. And “that’s exactly what we set out to do.”
Toyota added an attention-grabbing TRD (Toyota Racing Development) version of the Camry in late 2019.
The redesign for the 2018 Camry was inspired by CEO Akio Toyoda’s edict to inject more passion, excitement and energy into all vehicles, said Romaric Lartilleux, a Toyota Canada spokesman. The hot-selling SE and XSE grades, which Lartilleux said accounted for 85 per cent of Camry sales in 2020, “recognize a segment trend towards sportier, more expressive and well-equipped midsize sedans.”
Amping up Camry’s sporty side seems to be paying off. From 2017 to 2019 — the last normal sales years, pre-pandemic — the overall midsize-sedan segment slumped 31 per cent, but Camry sales dipped only 6.3 per cent, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center.
That increased Camry’s share of the segment to 25.4 per cent in 2019 from 18.8 per cent in 2017.
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