Toyota Camry – The Jazzy New Family Sedan

Sourya Biswas
31 December 2007

Feline, powerful, dynamic, and intelligent. Almost a predator. That is what the new Camry really is, in short.

Brad Pitt on any given day is certainly attractive (ask the ladies), but a buffed up Pitt a la 'Troy' is something else altogether.

That, in a nutshell, describes the new luxury sedan from the Toyota stable, the Camry. What's so special about the new Camry, you say? Lots, as a matter of fact. Looks, for one. Power, for another.

The earlier fifth-generation model launched in India in 2002 had about as much individuality and personality as the villain's henchman's left-hand man in a Hindi potboiler. Sure, he got the job done, but no one actually noticed his presence.

All that has changed with the sixth-generation model launched recently. With a low, feline presence, the new Toyota Camry exudes a powerful, aggressive halo, and is, in Toyota's words, ''a seamless fusion of dynamism and intelligence''. Few will disagree.

The Toyota Camry has a long and distinguished history. It has been the best-selling car in the largest car market in the world, the United States of America, for nine of the last ten years. In these years, it has won a series of accolades, with USA Today declaring it as ''the car that had the most impact on the US market from 1975 to 2000'' and Motor Trend calling it ''The car Toyota's rivals wish they could build''.

This car originally started its life as the Toyota Celica Camry in January 1980 for the Japanese home market, and underwent several transformations over the years. This is a car that has seen gradual improvement, with succeeding generations being launched at regular intervals, the current one being the completely redesigned sixth-generation model launched in March 2006.