Toyota Is Bringing the Camry Back to Europe
Back in April, Toyota announced that it was killing its 21-year-old Avensis nameplate, and not bothering to offer a direct replacement in the D-segment space. Why, dear American compadre, should you care one whit about a British-built Toyota that shared underpinnings with the humble Corolla? Well, because the nominal replacement for the Avensis is a machine American buyers won’t stop purchasing: the Camry.
This isn’t the Camry’s first dalliance with the Euro market, but it’s been 14 years since it last graced the Continent. In the interim, it’s grown into quite a large machine, while European streets have not grown. Although the Avensis ostensibly occupied the same space in the European market as the Camry did for us, it always was a more svelte automobile. In its final incarnation, the Avensis measured 5.7 inches shorter than the 2018 Camry and rode on a 4.9-inch-longer wheelbase, so it’ll be interesting to see how our Yank-size sedan will fare among the Eurofolk.
As of right now, Toyota only has announced that the European Camry will use its 2.5-liter hybrid powertrain-a bit surprising to some, since European registration/road taxes have tended to favor vehicles with powerplants under 2.0-liters. However, with the trend toward taxing based on a powertrain’s CO2 output rather than its displacement, registering a 2.5-liter Lexus ES300h in Ireland is, for example, less than one-third the cost of registering a first-generation supercharged Mini Cooper S, despite the Mini’s 0.9-liter–smaller engine. [Data culled from an informal survey of the author’s Irish relatives. All caveats apply, your mileage may vary.]
The final piece in the puzzle is where the Euro Camry will be assembled. Toyota has made no announcements. The Avensis was built in Derbyshire, England, but with Brexit looming, the Japanese automaker might well be looking to other facilities to fulfill European demand.
You Might Also Like
