Toyota Camry best-selling Australian-made car
May 27, 2008 by George Skentzos
Many would assume the honor of being crowned Australia’s best-selling locally-produced car would be a photo finish between the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon.
However according to figures released today by Toyota, the best-selling Australian-made car is in fact the humble Camry sedan.
A record 111,891 Camry sedans were produced last year at Toyota’s Altona plant in Melbourne’s west making it the only Australian built car to exceed annual production of 100,000 vehicles.
From this total, less than a quarter actually found their way into Australian households with over 85,500 being exported and sold in more than 20 countries.
Despite this, the total local sales of 26,300 vehicles still made the Camry the country’s best-selling mid-size car – more than doubling its nearest rival.
Now Toyota has added to the appeal of its four-cylinder Camry range with the new Ateva L special-edition model, which features more than $2000 of equipment for no extra cost.
This special-edition model will feature leather seats and door trim, 17-inch alloy wheels, a lip spoiler and badging whilst retaining the same $33,750 price tag as the standard Ateva.
Toyota has also made a running upgrade to the Camry Grande, adding 17-inch alloy wheels as standard with no change to the $39,990 price tag.
The Toyota Camry is the only four-cylinder car produced in Australia and has been our best selling mid-size car for the past 14 years.
Print it: 
If anybody says that toyotas are more reliable than commodores or falcons are wrong. Because toyota has faults too!
exactly real cars it takes a durable reliable engine to run on gas something Toyota must lack same with the alloy tec V6 i mean the old mans vs is hitting 500,000km soon with out problem and it gets one hard life same with the VK 300′000km plus and it the factory engine escort hits 30 years next year factory engine and there a trick to this looking after the car most taxis are not road worthy theses day but the good old falcons keep going AU falcon Australian’s most reliable car.
HA HA HA HA – Geeksville Freaksville!
TAXIS=CAMRY
TP would you please write a reply that makes sense. Please use correct grammar and spelling before hitting ‘enter’. Also, I am not confusing brand loyalty with marketing. If you read it properly a new sentence starts. Also, people that ‘post’ information on here are bloggers not posters hehehe, just thought you may like to know :-)
tp, if your Camry is on 200,000klms and still ticking over(emphasis on the ticking!!!)then I bet u money it is only putting out 60kw at the flywheel!
Realcars – Engines need to be converted to accept LPG, not a matter of durability. So much for your moment of intelligence.
toyota best range of 4×4’s !!!!
mate buy a patrol then u wouldnt piss on a toyot 4×4 even if it was on fire
realcars has lost the point.
you go on and tell everyone that your taxi so will stronger than any other car because its qualified to be a taxi.
Also, I am not talking up Holden or Ford, I am just not talking up Toyota. As i said, I had a terrible experience when I purchased a Toyota and will not buy one again.
phil if you where the oner of an alloy tech on gas you wouldn’t say that the guy next door is proof
“AU falcon Australian’s most reliable car.”
EscortGhia, the AU had alot of problems and i wouldnt say it was Austrlaia’s most reliable car either mate! VT’s were better!
Hsv1, yes patrols are crap compared to Landcruisers. landCruiser’s rule!!!!!!!!!!! Why did you bring that up anyway?
“Also, I am not talking up Holden or Ford, I am just not talking up Toyota. As i said, I had a terrible experience when I purchased a Toyota and will not buy one again.”
Adam, you cant buy a drive a type of car from a car companie and think their rest are crap and not buy another one like in youre case a toyota. It may have been a faulty one or something. Like look you could drive a Holden (Daewoo) Barina and say “I will never buy a Holden again”. Just testing one model from the whole car companie range doesnt mean the rest will be crap like the commodore isn’t.
Escort – Tell me how do most ordinary people measure reliability?
1) No of breakdowns during the car\’s lifetime
2) Whether the petrol engine can run on gas?
What next, diesel? Please. I\’m paying credit where its due. I believe Toyota makes some of the most boring cars on sale, but they are good for what they are made out to be. I\’m a Mazda man myself.
duck vt are one of the worst relabel holden ever suspension problems because it was carried over from the vs and they didn’t mostly the set up for a bigger car people were constantly getting there 5.7L v8 rebuilt because holden detuned them to much then later they got to much out of them.
all i remember being the biggest problem with the AU was a steering rack and the fact that it look ugly in basic form.
Duck, look a little closer and HSV1 is being sarcastic when he says “toyota best range of 4×4’s !!!!”
Some AUs may have had probs, mine sure hasn’t.
Waiting for Golfie’s comparo summary. Should be a close fight.
phil how much a car brakes down in it life is the main one and the old man’s car has blown a water pump twise the vk has had starter motor and a few fan belts the escort has had a starter motor and a brake booster
I have owned both a BA Falcon and now currently drive and Aurion and there is no bloody way a Falcon is more reliable. You really must be smoking weed. Do a bit of googling outside if your imaginary friends and connections and see how reliable your “Aussie” company is going.
My got, if a Taxi isn\’t the ultimate expression of automotive reliability what is?
Trying to make the point that despite the spin Toyota doesn\’t have a monopoly on reliability and durability as some bloggers on this site would infer and as the Toyota spin machine has rammed down our throats for the past 30 years or more.
As far as a motor needing to built for LPG the Ford Egas
is modified but the regular petrol version also lasts longer than anyone cares to remember when converted to LPG.
Toyota will void your warranty if u use 10% ethanol fuel!
The Cabs companies and thousands of Falcons they run must be wrong then Richard?
Tell me the Aurion is a better car to drive and we will really see u don’t know what u are talking about.Ha Ha Ha
Richard,Phil and TP on the morning shift together to see if they can operate the toaster and spread the jam from the bubble packs.classic!!
Yeah Hsv1 was being sarcastic i thought he was but it was hard to tell.
Good one Realcars! :)
Interesting point realcars. I’ve travelled to NZ a fair bit and they don’t have a Falcon dominated Taxi empire because of the lack of fleet sales departments and none of the traditional ties that we Aussies are used to.
You’ll find most cabbies choose Nissan Maximas, Toyota Aurions/Camry because of their reliability. I guess where they have a choice, they will opt for a Japanese based solution.
Yuck come to think of it the camry’s steering wheel is UGLY AS HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thats very true Tim.
Mate you can live in your little world and play god with your little toys. It’s dimwitted people like who need top open their eyes and get some fresh air.
In the end Ford has been struggling to make money. I really hope the Falcon can keep Aussie jobs.
If u are really good I’ll tell u how to get those little jam packets undone.Ha Ha Ha.
I do agree(in my own dim witted way)with u on the job front Richard.
My local Ford dealer is doing his bit to keep Toyota number one.
I hope all car companies can stay afloat and compete in all segments, the more the better competition, otherwise manufacturers relax too much a produce average cars over and over again with hardly any innovation or technical improvement.
right on joober although its not like anyone would miss Toyota except the the 4X4’s
EscortGhia, the people that buy more Toyotas than the two next brands added together will miss Toyota.
haha, its just funny and ironic some people go all twisted and all personal about people’s preference.
I mean Ghist GT for one made me chuckle a bit, punch people on the face?
bag 35 year olds for buying new cars?
oh man what passion haha.
First off, You JUST HIT the nail on the head. Exactly what marketing for the Camry is…. 35 year olds… in fact sedans, BRAND NEW sedans… NEW CARS etc… are targeted to that audience. Most 20~30 year olds are most likely on the market for smaller cars or used sedans, but globally, most people who buy brand new sedans are “grown up” people with families… hey what dont you bag on families for buying “boring” vans or suvs too… Im sure you have some ammor for them… I mean who buy Vans, their ugly, cannot put spoilers on them, no turbo options what the heck they thinking!!!
Good thing manufacturing companies are not ran by some of you people… because those companies will be buried after a week the way you guys perceive the industry.
Fact:
Money makers for companies are everyday drivers…. not performance cars…. thats a niche market. Tiny in fact.
And Camry has stood the test of time because of a few reasons, but one thing is its Toyota’s flagship everyday sedan vehicle globally, its sold and engineered in a few countries… US (its doing well here), Europe, Australia, Pacific region etc.
And another thing, the boring excuse is again, for the millionth time very shallow and misses the point of the camry…. If I was in the market for an everyday car, cheap to service, cheap to maintaine, a car I wouldnt care if it does 100k kms a year, or have pints and scratches due to everyday wear…. I’d consider a Camry.
But to be honest, I’d look at the Mazda 6 or Honda Accord too… but mind you, those cars are priced higher, yes more features and luxury but again, most people just want that everyday driver, point a to b, and not pay the extra 5~6 grand…. those cars are imported too, more expensive to maintain and insure.
People here cannot compare in context and hence dont matter…. opinions on an internet forum… illogical and thoughtless opinions… well it is a free speech/opinion forum so its not “unexpected”….
Absolutely agree Jamison, couldnt have said better.
Good night!
Who needs to buy comics, just read this site. And of course if you don’t have TV again, just read this site.
Duck – fairdinkum … who really gives a sh*t about who designs cars, who they worked for previously and who they will be employed by in the future. If that is an effort to have a go at Toyota then it is pathetic.
As for Toyota not being more reliable then Holden and Ford … that comment proves your knolwedge of the industry is woeful
4 Quality / Customer Satisfaction Surveys were released in Australia last year and while Toyota consistantly ranked in the ‘TOP 3′ for all of them, Holden and Ford performed dismally.
1. Aust Leaked Qual Sur as published on DRIVE.com under ‘features’ …
while Toyota was ranked ‘dominate’ or ‘above par’ in every category, Holden failed dismally in every single category … that’s right – ranked ‘below average’ in every single segment while Ford didn’t perform much better. Infact, Holden and Ford took out more wooden spoons then any other manufactuer.
2. R A C Nat Sur … Toyota ranked in the ‘TOP 3′ with Mazda and Honda while Holden and Ford were infact described as ‘below benchmark’.
3. J D Powers Sur of WA Motorist … Toyota ranked in the ‘TOP 3′ again with Mazda and Honda while Holden and Ford perfromed poorly.
4. J D Powers Nat Aust Sur … yet again – Mazda, Honda and Toyota ranked as the ‘TOP 3′ while Holden placed 9th and Ford 10th.
So, while you speak utter bullsh*t, i have just provided you with 4 x 2007 referances of Australian Quality / Customer Satisfaction surveys that proves your comment is absolute rubbish.
Don’t beieve me, then i suggest you google each of those referances and educate yourself with correct information for once instead of living in la, la, land
Bret … cut the haa-haa dribble will ‘ya, leave it to the girls.
You stated that Toyota is making the wrong car (Camry)which is absolute rubbish. I replied to you with statistics of ‘real world’ sales involving the Camry, Commodore and Falcon which proved how wrong and grossly mis-informed your judgement is.
You are abviously challenged with the RAW TRUTH … !!
Next time you pass utter crap like you did, i will be glad to provide some facts to prove you wrong – AGAIN !!
Repeat – while sales of the Camry has infact improved especially when coupled with the monthly sales of the Aurion, the Commodore and Falcon today are infact experiancing thier lowest sales ever with sales of the VE running at half or less compared to the VT only a few years ago … oooch !!
So what exactly were you saying about the Camry being the wrong car considering it has been the biggest selling mid-sized family saloon for the past 14 years and still comfortably the biggest selling car in it’s segment today … mmm !!
Realcars … your thoughts about Toyota durability is a joke and so are you.
Why has Toyota established such a strong and recognised reputation today …. because of thier quality, reliability, dependability and – what for it … durability.
In one comment you talk up Falcons because of their taxi utilisation, durability and so forth but then talk down Toyota for being nothing but taxi cars … mmm !!
You are one spaced-out fella dude !!
Gee … i wonder why Toyota is the most prefered manufactuer with the Farmers, Tradies, Industries and Mines.
Wouldn’t have anything to do with thier strong, robust and dependable nature would it !!
Duck I would love to tell you where a group of us have now moved to actually discuss cars but I don’t want their site trashed by Dingo ,funny they get similar stories including Toyota ones and everyone can talk freely without being shot down in flames for having an opinion. Not one fight on the site since Ive been there in a week.
Toyoda Supporter – fairdinkum … who really gives a sh*t about who sells the most cars.
Toyoda is not more reliable then Holden and Ford …
4 Quality / Customer Satisfaction Surveys were released in Australia last year and while Ford consistantly ranked in the ‘TOP 3′ for all of them, Toyoda performed dismally.
1. Aust Leaked Qual Sur as published on DRIVE.com under ‘features’ …
while Ford was ranked ‘dominate’ or ‘above par’ in every category, Toyota failed dismally in every single category … that’s right – ranked ‘below average’ in every single segment while Holden didn’t perform much better. Infact, “Toyoda” took out more wooden spoons then any other manufactuer.
OH WHAT A FEELING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. R A C Nat Sur … Ford ranked in the ‘TOP 3′ with Mazda and Honda while Toyoda were infact described as ‘below benchmark’.
3. J D Powers Sur of WA Motorist … Ford ranked in the ‘TOP 3′ again with Mazda and Honda while Toyota poorly.
4. J D Powers Nat Aust Sur … yet again – Mazda, Honda and Ford ranked as the ‘TOP 3′ while Holden placed 9th and Toyoda 10th.
So, while you speak utter bullsh*t, i have just provided you with 4 x 2007 referances of Australian Quality / Customer Satisfaction surveys that proves your comment is absolute rubbish.
So what exactly were you saying about the Falcon being the wrong car considering it has been the biggest selling mid-sized family saloon for the past 20 years and still comfortably the biggest selling car in it’s segment today … mmm !!
Why has Ford established such a strong and recognised reputation today …. because of thier quality, reliability, dependability and – wait for it … durability.
Gee … I wonder why Ford is the most prefered manufactuer with the Farmers, Tradies, Industries and Mines.
Wouldn’t have anything to do with thier strong, robust and dependable nature would it !!
Toyota supporter you are one sick puppy, obsessed about a lump of metal and surveys, you need to get laid, or a job, or a life, maybe a pet, goldfish or a little fluffy dog or rabbit, you get my drift..
in truth though you are not alone, few other wacko’s here as well..
Dingo/TS,
Mate are you THICK or what?
Got back, read and COMPREHEND what was written. Nowhere did I question the suitability of Camry as a mid size car for Aus.
Lets spell it out real slooooooowly.
Looking at sales figures, Corolla sells double Camry:
Would Toyota and Australia be better off if they built Corolla instead of Camry in Australia?????
No comparison with Commodore, Mondeo, 380, nothing! Sheeesh!
“4. J D Powers Nat Aust Sur … yet again – Mazda, Honda and Ford ranked as the ‘TOP 3′ while Holden placed 9th and Toyoda 10th.” –
No it wasnt it was 3rd with 772 / 1000
Ford was below industry standard (762) at 743.
Where do you get your facts from?
Joober, imagine a witch at her cauldron using a giant “stirring” motion.
Ford Freak … arrange as many sentances as you wish – couldn’t give a sh*t because it does change market reality.
We all know who manufactuer reliable cars and those that are not … well – to reliable !!
HA, HA, HA !!
Consider This:
How long have Toyota been in Formula 1? Must be 6 or maybe even 7 years now. And with the biggest budget in the pit lane no less, yes much bigger than McLaren and even Ferrari…
And what has the “world’s No1 car company” achieved in that time?
Not a single race win….
The most successful engine in formula 1 history?
Built by Ford.
Not to mention 4 Le Mans victories on the trot.
That’s passion.
And that’s what Toyota miss by a mile.
They don’t have a drop of it in their entire range.
‘Nuff said.
Bret … obviuosly not for what eva reason.
approx 45000 Corolla’s are sold in Australia per year at present while Altona manufactuers approx 145 000 Camry’s and Aurions not only for local consumption but for export markets aswell.
Toyota being a mult-national company must consider the viability of all it’s operations and not just Altona in Melbourne.
Obviuosly locally manufactuering of the Camry satisfies Toyota’s global manufactuering structure / business strategy.
Millatime – Toyota’s budget is infact 2nd largest behind Ferrari. That said – i agree Toyota has alot of work to do when it comes to F1 and i hope they find performance.
However … NASCAR is proving very successful for Toyota and is currently (arguably) the most competitive manufactuer in the series.
Todate, Toyota is currently the leading manufactuer in the Sprint Series (1st tier) and Nationwide (2nd tier) while positioned second in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Sprint Series (12 races to dates) …
Toyota – 4 wins
Chevy – 3 wins
Ford – 3 wins
Dodge – 2 wins
Nationwide Series (13 races to date) …
Toyota – 9 wins
Chevy – 2 wins
Ford – 2 wins
Dode – 0 wins
Craftsman Trucks Series (6 races to date) …
Toyota – 3 wins
Chevy – 3 wins
Ford – 0 wins
Dodge – 0 wins
Better still – of the 31 races combined in the NASCAR Series that have been completed this year so far … Toyota has won 16 of them alone and that does not even include the multitude of 2nd’s and 3rd’s.
Best part of it all – Toyota is beating the American companies at thier own race on thier own soil … ooch !!
Oh yeah – and lets not forget our own Australian Rally Champioship (ARC)of which TRD won the manufactuers title in 2006 and 2007 while off to a flying start this year by winning both of the first 2 races so far.
While i agree Toyota continues to struggle in F1, they are however performing extremely well in other motorsport events.