Working as an engineer or designer on the Toyota Camry must simultaneously seem like both the world's most difficult job and the earth's easiest assignment.
It's the toughest job because Camry reigns as the most popular passenger car in all of America. Through 2007, the midsize sedan has remained the top-selling car for six consecutive years, and for 10 of the last 11 years. Imagine the personal pressure you'd feel to keep that streak alive. Imagine the shame to come from the end of the Camry's long run.
But history makes the popularity of Camry pretty easy to maintain. People come looking for the car because it has earned a reputation for tireless longevity and rock-solid dependability. Drivers who own one tend to come back for another. Other people are converted to Camry by the rave reviews they hear from family and friends.
"One comment I hear all the time is, 'You don't have to sell me on the Toyota. I already know how great they are,'" said Jerry Malone, sales manager of Rockingham Toyota Scion Nissan Honda in Salem, N.H.
Jonathan Russo, Toyota sales manager at Jaffarian Toyota Scion Volvo in Haverhill, noted that a lot of Camrys are essentially pre-sold to repeat buyers. "Toyota has the most loyal customer base," he said. "They know the product better than we do — the reliability, the bullet-proof reputation, the value."
He pointed to current television commercials by Ford, which claim that Ford quality equals Toyota's. Whatever it says about its sponsor, the advertisement makes clear that people regard Toyota the standard bearer in vehicle quality, Russo said.
True, both men have a lot to gain by boosting Toyota and its top-selling Camry. But test-driving a new Camry last week, looking at the model's sales performance (both its current and its historic record), picking up buzz from consumers and even just watching traffic pass, I can't find any solid grounds to refute them. Selling Toyotas must be the most secure job in automotive retailing today.
Toyota produces four grades of Camry, starting at $18,720 for a well-equipped, standard model, and running to $25,150 for a high-end, Camry XLE. The top model's features include a partially reclining rear seat and upholstery specially treated with a silkworm extract that, Toyota says, is gentle on the skin.
Camry's standard engine is a four-cylinder, with a fuel economy rating of 21 miles per gallon in city driving, 31 mpg on the highway, whether equipped with the standard, five-speed manual transmission or optional automatic. You can purchase a more powerful V6 engine, combined with a six-speed automatic transmission. The option adds more than $3,000, while it drops fuel economy to 19 mpg city, 28 mpg highway.
The auto company also offers a hybrid version of Camry, conserving gasoline by combining electric drive with a regular, four-cylinder engine. Starting at $25,350, Camry Hybrid has a fuel-economy rating of 33/34 mpg.
All Camrys come with advanced antilock brakes and seven air bags, including side-curtain protectors. Dynamic stability control sells as an option. Camry holds the government's highest, five-star rating for safety in front and side crashes. The cars are manufactured at Toyota factories in Japan and Kentucky.
The car's reputation explains why Toyota dealers in the Merrimack Valley report that Camry sales run strong even today, when overall auto sales are faltering. Both Jaffarian and Rockingham are selling more Camrys this year than last. Their experience mirrors the national trend. Through March, total car sales across the U.S. shrank by 3 percent from 2007, according to the market-tracking company Autodata. But Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. saw Camry deliveries grow by about 2.5 percent during that period.
Toyota helped goose sales early this year by bringing out the 2009 version of Camry in January, instead of waiting until the fall. That enables the company to give lease customers more enticing terms, explained Russo of Jaffarian. When, say, a three-year lease expires in 2011, an '09 model will be worth more than an '08 model would. The higher anticipated trade-in value keeps monthly lease payments lower, Russo said.
But in the current shrinking auto market, other companies are offering incentives, too. Both Russo and Rockingham's Malone attribute Camry's strong showing primarily to its history of faithful service. A reputation for longevity and dependability becomes even more valuable when an uncertain economy makes people think more seriously about big purchases, they said.
"In this tight economy, people are seeking more value," Russo said. "They're planning not just for the next three years, but for the next 10 years."
As Malone put it, "At other times people might buy on emotion, but right now people are buying based on reputation."
Competing car companies continue to work very hard to dethrone today's long-reigning Camry. Certainly one day one of them will. Every record falls. Every success eventually is succeeded by a challenger that reaches an even higher mark.
But Toyota's corporate culture makes the task doubly hard for rivals. According to reputation, the company self-consciously maintains a mania for improvement.
"Toyota is never happy. They never think that the car can't be better. All they want to do is make it better," Malone said.
The car that finally unseats the Camry will have undergone a lot of consumer testing to prove its excellence. It will signal an overall improvement across the entire automotive field. That will be good news for us drivers. But I wouldn't want to be a member of the Toyota team presiding over Camry when one day it meets its match.
2009 Toyota Camry
Vehicle type: Front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger 4-door sedan
Price range: $18,720 to $25,350 (plus options)
Warranty: 3 years/36,000 miles basic warranty; 5 years/60,000 miles powertrain warranty; 12 years/unlimited miles corrosion warranty
Base engine: 2.4-liter 4-cylinder
Power: 158 horsepower at 6,000 rpm; 161 lb.-ft. torque at 4,600 rpm
Base transmission: 5-speed manual
Fuel economy: 21 mpg city; 31 mpg highway
Wheelbase: 109 inches
Length: 189 inches
Width: 72 inches
Height: 58 inches
Weight: 3,263 pounds
Fuel capacity: 18.5 gallons
Turning circle: 36.1 feet
