New Toyota Camry from Japan is up to $10,000 more than the Australian-made model

DISCOUNTS are over for the Toyota Camry as a new Japanese-built model replaces the local model.

JOSHUA DOWLING

2 min read

November 21, 2017 - 11:30AM

News Corp Australia Network

The new Toyota Camry imported from Japan is significantly more expensive than the Australian-made model it replaces. Picture: Supplied.

AUSTRALIANS can now put a price on the end of local car manufacturing, with the new imported Toyota Camry costing up to $10,000 more than the model made in Melbourne.

The Camry has been advertised on Toyota’s website for $26,990 drive-away for more than two years but the recommended retail starting price of the new model is $31,000 drive-away.

Toyota’s locally-made V6 sedan — previously called the Aurion — was advertised for $29,990 drive-away for the same extended period of time but the new Camry V6 starts from $40,000 drive-away, a $10,000 jump.

The only model to get a modest price increase is the petrol-electric Camry hybrid, which has gone up from its long-term starting price of $32,990 drive-away to $33,500 drive-away.

The eighth-generation Toyota Camry is new from the ground up. Picture: Supplied.

Toyota says the all-new model gains extra technology and equipment which justifies the “realignment” of the Camry price range.

Toyota’s senior divisional manager for sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, said: “The drive-away price for the locally-made car versus the drive-away price for the new car has gone up (but) our volume aspirations are significantly less than they were for the locally made car”.

Toyota said the price of the previous Camry was discounted to boost sales and keep the local factory running.

“We had a commitment to support our manufacturing operations to the end of 2017,” said Mr Hanley. “While local manufacturing has stopped, the Camry brand continues.”

Figures supplied by Toyota show “dealer list prices” for six of nine models have come down with the new generation Camry.

However, the Camry has not been sold at “dealer list prices” for more than two years.

Toyota says the price hikes won’t impact the Toyota Camry’s record as Australia’s top selling medium-size car for the past 23 years.

“We believe the new Camry’s evocative styling, extra technology and value will bring new buyers to the market,” said Mr Hanley.

The eighth-generation model is new from the ground up and is imported from Japan, one of seven Camry factories around the world.

More than 1 million locally-made four-cylinder and V6 Camry/Aurions had been sold in Australia from 1983 to 2017.

Australia was the first country outside Japan where Toyota established a car factory, in 1963.

When Toyota shut the gates on its Altona site in October 2017 it was the first time the company had shut a fully fledged car manufacturing facility anywhere in the world.