2012 Toyota Aurion revealed, on sale in Australia late-Q1 | CarAdvice

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2012 Toyota Aurion revealed, on sale in Australia late-Q1

TOYOTA AURION
By Tim Beissmann |
FIND DEALS

Earlier this week we brought you images of what we believed to be the revised 2012 Toyota Hybrid Camry, but we can now officially reveal that what you are looking at is the new 2012 Toyota Aurion.

The images reveal a hybrid version of the Aurion, which is sold as a premium Camry in Japan and a number of other Asian countries.

Toyota Australia’s Elise Rennie confirmed the vehicle in the images, from Holiday Auto magazine via Brazilian website Noticias Automotivas, were an accurate representation of the facelifted Aurion, which will be built in Australia from early next year.

“Our Aurion will look very similar to that [car in the images].” Ms Rennie said

“There will be a few slight changes for Australia, as there always is from country to country.”

As the Aurion in the images is a hybrid model, our Aurion will lose Toyota’s traditional hybrid design elements, including the blue badging, unique grille and gaping lower air intake.

Ms Rennie said the 2012 Toyota Aurion would go on sale in Australia late in the first quarter of 2012 (around March).

It will follow the new 2012 Toyota Camry, which is due in the last quarter of this year, and the 2012 Toyota Hybrid Camry, which will hit showrooms earlier in the first quarter of next year.

The Aurion will not be sold as a hybrid in Australia and will continue to be offered with a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine. Toyota Australia is yet to confirm whether there will be an improvement to its 200kW/336Nm output, but we expect an improvement to its current 9.9 litres/100km combined cycle fuel consumption rating.

At 4825mm long, 1825mm wide, 1470mm tall and with a 2775mm wheelbase, the new Aurion is expected to be just 5mm wider than the outgoing model, and identical in all other exterior dimensions. Rear legroom will reportedly grow by 46mm.

The interior design will be refreshed with a new dashboard layout, bolder fascia inserts and a remodelled steering wheel.

The exterior styling of the Aurion will be more conservative than the 2012 Camry, which will get more aggressive angular headlights and a broad grille.

Toyota Australia will hope the revisions to the Aurion can help its struggling large car in the showroom.

Disappointing sales of the Ford Falcon in 2011 have drawn attention away from the Aurion, but the big Toyota’s sales haven’t exactly set the world on fire so far this year either.

Toyota Australia sold 4273 in the first half of 2011, down 30 per cent (or 1829 units) compared with the same period in 2010. Its share of the large segment has fallen from 12.5 per cent to 11.6 per cent this year.

Those levels are a long way off the Aurion’s best sales performances. In 2007 (its first full year on sale in Australia), Toyota sold 22,036 for the year, and in 2008, it increased its share of the large car segment to 17.1 per cent.

What do you think of the 2012 Toyota Aurion? Has Toyota done enough with the design, or is it a little too conservative? Let us know in the comments section below.


 

  • AB

    The styling is a step backwards in my opinion

    • Steve

      Actually looks like someone’s backed into it!

  • BoatAnchor

    Yawn… Looks like they copied the Cruze at the back – urgggh.

    • Nath746

      I think the back looks more like a Hyundai Elantra or i45

    • Martin V.

      The rear lights look like that Renault-Samsung SM5′s to me.

  • Tim

    Give up Toyota.

  • Ox

    So the “new” premium Camry (aka Aurion) is just a facelift, but the new standard Camry is an all new design. That makes complete sense.

  • J

    I was thinking the rear looked a little like the Renault Lattitude.

    That interior too..very underwhelming.

    • speakmymind

      i was thinking the rear just looked like what a rear looked like

      • J

        An unimaginative rear.

  • F1MotoGP

    Why we can not get the hybrid? Same with Honda Accord in US they got hybrid. I am happy with the design, maybe boring but not ageing as quickly as Hyundai.

  • Commentator

    The Mazda6, i45 and Accord Euro look much better than this.

  • mh2408

    yet another nothing car from Toyota

    • gazza

      And what do you drive a camira or a sunbird????????

      • Andrew M

        Anyones guess what “mh2408″ drives, but you just gave yourself up

    • sean t

      Grow up mh.

  • Mick

    The Aurion needs to be just as updated as the Camry. I really hope they don’t make it too conservative, otherwise it will become like older camrys and be very boring styling wise! One of the main reasons I see people not buying the Aurion is the price, they are way too expensive and if they make it conservative it will turn more people away. They’d be on a winner if it were more aggressive & sleek looking both on the outside and inside(without looking cheesy).

    • Keyo

      You obviously have never heard of an understated and bespoke design..

      You do not have to be flashy to be good looking..

  • Macca

    Has something changed on it? I”m still looking for the differences…

    • Oh What a Letdown!

      Yeah Macca, The new model comes with a Beige Cardigan and a pair of runners from Lowes.

  • Zrf

    I45 now looks boring and stupid.. Atleast Aurion has aged quite well..

    Although i will admit, this Aurion looks ugly and the current one looks miles better..

  • http://Caradvice Onepoppa

    Given that our Aurion body is also produced in China, and perhaps other places as the Camry Premium (4 cylinder) , then this is what is pictured. It therefore appears that the “all new” Camry may only be a facelift, as the car pictured certainly has the basic current Camry shape, including doors and glass areas

    • Golfschwein

      Onepoppa, do what I did, and log on to the Toyota website to get a picture of the current Aurion on screen. You’ll see the upper door crease line intersects the door handles on the current car but goes above the door handles on the car pictured above. So the sheet metal really is new. It’s so close, you have to compare, but you’ll see that difference along with other reference points.

  • mrxandthexfactor

    Is it designed in Australia?? The old Aurion was a true Auzzie car – designed and made in Australia. This one looks quite good actually, it’s really not bad. Just because it’s Toyota, doesn’t mean it’s bad or boring (or crap). It’s a stereotype. You don’t have to agree with me but I think it’s an elegant-looking car. There is a sense of European flair. However, it is still rather conservative. They have stuck to their design language/philosophy. The interior is difficult to make sense of since the image isn’t really of high quality. It may or may not be bland. It’s hard to judge. At least it can be said, the centre console layout is quite old-school. Overall, this new Aurion is quite good. Hope the Sportivo models are good looking as well. The current Sportivos are really good looking on the outside.

    Just another thing, I think the pictures above show a hybrid version. You can tell by the logo outlined in blue.

    • DE

      Are you kidding? Or are you just blinded by the Toyota marketing? The current 6 cyl Camry sold in Australia (known as the Aurion) is just the Asian market Camry hybrid. It appears the next one will be the same thing.

      I still get a laugh out of those fools who actually think that Aurion is somehow bigger than a Camry, when the bodies are identical.

      • mrxandthexfactor

        Not that Commodores and Falcons are any better.

      • LL

        Well, Toyota doesn’t advertise anything mrx mentioned… The Aurion isn’t bigger than the Camry but it’s got a different engine. The Aurion has more tech as well. It’s like Epica against the Commodore. Commodore: more tech, bigger engine, prettier car.

  • The_Petulant_Prawn

    All things considered this is much more likely to be the next Aurion than the Camry.

  • nickdl

    Well they could have released this car instead of the original back in 2006 and it still would have looked underwhelming. The current Aurion is a very good car, but it lacks the showroom appeal it needs if it is to attract private buyers. Surely Toyota aren’t so strapped for cash that they can’t do a good-looking restyle?

    The interior is just as bad; it looks like a cheaper version of the now 6 year old Lexus IS250. Oh and is that boot only 440L? If so, its 90L down on the old one, not to mention the stupid gooseneck hinges – not sure how they plan on closing that boot full of golf clubs in the 3rd photo!

  • wayne kerr

    The one redeeming feature of the car is the 200kW engine, if that’s not getting upgraded then there won’t be much excitement.

    • Andrew M

      But 200kw still isnt a stand alone reason to chose it when everyone else pulls that figure too

  • http://Caradvice Onepoppa

    The previous Aurion was not an exclusively Australian body. It might have been designed (?) more likely a modified Camry body, but it was sold through South East Asia as the Camry Premium. What was presumably done here was the engineering work to fit it with a V6, but then again that might have already been done in the USA.

    • DE

      Very little of the Camry V6, marketed as Aurion in Australia, was designed or engineered in Australia. In fact the biggest local input into the “design” was in fact just the AURION badge.

      • TRD001

        Another person who knows jack all about the industry yet craps on here like he does… Aurion was indeed designed here in Australia by Toyota style Australia as were the TRD Versions and were completely engineered and tested and shook down in Australia then taken to other Asian/middle eastern countries to find their specific tunes and specs… yes Aurion and Camry share many components but there are more differences then things the same the actually chassis is different with the front rails being wider in Aurion to take the 2GR-FE 204kw V6. so stop being a sheep and following everybody else and actually get informed before sprouting crap off on forums.

    • Ezz

      I think the current Aurion’s front end was designed by an ex-ford designer (Aussie) who worked on the BA – BF XR-series. That is the only real differentiation with the current model in this country from my understanding.

      ****

  • He7o

    I highly doubt this is the next gen Aurion..

    The current FL one looks quite handsome..

    This one seems a mix of American, Korean & European design..

  • Lloyd

    What a waste of resources and man hours to build a car so similar to the outgoing model. Surely it costs the same to make a modern looking car as it does this boring thing.
    The designer is still being paid the same money. I’m sure its a good car but an opportunity went begging. At least the Koreans are trying.

  • Andrew M

    Now that the front looks similar to the Camry with the slanted headlights, I must wonder if those who wanted an Aurion because it was a masculine version will be put off.

  • SPEC

    Yeah the current Aurion looks better then this, also the AVALON looks good, check out the 2011 Avalon..

    Its not all about design, its also about quality, comfort, safety, reliability etc which i’m sure this will have..

  • Lukaas

    I think it looks like the best selling car for the last 5 years in the states.

    • Andrew M

      maybe, but it shares no resemblence to the best selling vehicle in the states over the last 15 years or so

  • Lukaas

    and facelift is the wrong word..

    new sheet metal, new body shell, new doors, new everything you can see.

    • Golfschwein

      I’m with you. A look at the current car is proof that the car pictured here is, indeed, new.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1715760895 Charles Dean

    WTF, it looks like one of those Korean or Chinese car..

    The cuurent one atleast has some level of prestige & refinement..

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1715760895 Charles Dean

    This is rubbish, it looks like one of those Korean or Chinese car..

    The cuurent one atleast has some level of prestige & refinement..

  • STP

    Looks like an elongated Corolla..

  • maximark

    Well, what do you guys expect? It’s a Tobaru now.

  • Andrew Juma

    Biege

  • Andrew Juma

    Beige

  • Toyota Guru

    Toyota Australia, please for once, use your brains, and bring out the Aurion with the 2GR-FSE from the IS350, at least in the Sportivo variants.

  • zero

    will it have rwd?

  • Knowledge

    What a pathetic korean attitude.
    As usual, south korean people writing rubbish about Japanese makers. The worst think you guys still think we don’t get it in western countries. Man, we all (or at least, little by little) know what happen with south korean people (brainwashed), VANK and the south korean government (supporting what you guys do even with money).

    The worst think is, you still believe you are going to be able to hide such a rubbish the whole life, haha. I’m not the only one no asian person who already knows your rubbish.

    And NOTE: Please, don’t compare mediocre-hyundai to Toyota, are you serious? Are you kidding?

  • Don Wall

    Toyota can not do a lot to inprove the Camry. Wife just bought a 2011 and what a great car. WELL— maybe better MPG. ;-)

  • Terence

    Guys,when we talking abt Aurion we talking abt the “SPORTIVO” model only, that represents really OZ style, forget abt this crap hybrid model…hope its AWD or RWD or i may give up…

  • http://www.toyotaclub-sa.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=120 باسم الرياض bassim

    أوريون ممتازه سياره عمليه
    العيوب التصميم الداخلي سيئ جدا مثل كامري
    نقص الكثير من المواصفات للسياراة المصدره لدول الخليج
    وسنرى أوريون الجديده كليا في 2012
    نادي تويوتا
    toyota club Aurion

    Aurion car process excellent
    Interior design flaws such as the Camry very bad
    Lack many of the specifications for exporting to disembark in the Gulf States
    Aurion and we will see the all-new in 2012
    Club Toyota Aurion ksa

  • Jim C

    I have a 2009 Upgrade Presara which is overall a pretty good car except for the interior which is utter crap for a car of this price. The Thai built Camry Premium has almost Lexus quality seat covering yet here I’m forced to accept low grade vinyl masquerading as ‘Leather accented’.
    So Toyota, take note: when the new Aurion comes out in 2012, if the Presara (or it’s equivalent) doesn’t have the quality seating and covering thereof that it should, you will see the last of me as a customer.