Toyota Camry Returns to Europe

The Camry has long been the best-selling passenger car in the U.S., but it isn’t such a staple in many other parts of the world. Take Europe for example, which stopped selling the model in 2004 due to slow sales. Now, Toyota has decided to bring the Camry back to the continent where it will replace the Avensis.

The Toyota Camry will come with one powertrain option: a 2.5-liter gas engine with an electric motor. With the addition of the Camry, Toyota will now have eight hybrid electric models in its European lineup. Sales will begin in Western Europe in the first quarter of 2019.

Camrys for Europe will be imported from Japan. If it’s anything like the Japanese car, or the one sold in the U.S. for that matter, it will produce 175 hp and come equipped with a CVT. Speaking with Automotive News Europe, a Toyota spokesman said the Camry’s “main purpose is for fleet customers.” That makes sense because cars that produce low carbon dioxide emissions can draw in reduced company car tax in many countries in Europe.

Toyota sells the Camry in more than 100 countries around the globe. So far, more than 19 million units have been sold since the car first went on sale in 1982.

The 2018 Toyota Camry rides on the automaker’s new TNGA platform. As we wrote in our First Test, it’s the sportiest Camry we’ve seen and it represents a big improvement from the previous generation. In the U.S., sales of the Camry are still going strong despite the market trend favoring crossovers. The Camry was Toyota’s second best-selling vehicle in the U.S. last year, behind the RAV4 crossover.

Source: Toyota, Automotive News Europe (Subscription required)

The post Toyota Camry Returns to Europe appeared first on Motor Trend.

from Motor Trend https://ift.tt/2I8PHUh