VFACTS 2020: Toyota Camry top-selling mid-size sedan for 27th year

The Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon may have been consigned to the history books, however the Toyota Camry has outlasted them and gone from strength to strength, becoming the top-selling medium-size sedan in Australia for the 27th year in a row.

Even at the height of their powers, the longest winning streak for the Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon was 15 years – when the Commodore led the market until 2011. In the decades prior, both brands swapped the lead every few years or so. 

Official figures for 2020 released today show Toyota reported 13,727 Camry sedans as sold last year, a decrease of 18.1 per cent compared to the prior year.

The Toyota Camry now has a stranglehold on the medium sedan market – both in Australia and globally – in large part due to its hybrid technology.

Petrol-electric hybrids accounted for 70 per cent (or seven out of every 10) Camry sales in Australia in 2020. 

About 25 per cent of Toyota Camry sales were of the four-cylinder, and 5 per cent were of the V6, which will be discontinued by the middle of this year when the facelifted model arrives.

For all its merit, the Toyota Camry's sales result in 2020 is a long way from its former glory, when it was manufactured locally as a rival to the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore.

In 1999, Toyota sold 42,522 Camry four-cylinder and V6 sedans. However, in the 21 years since then, buyer tastes have shifted to small cars, SUVs and double-cab utes. 

While the updated Toyota Camry is expected to continue its dominance of the medium sedan segment, the V6 version will be axed by mid 2021 – following in the tyre tracks of the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon and marking an end to the affordable six-cylinder sedan era in Australia.

As reported earlier, Toyota dealers in Australia have been advised the Camry V6 will be discontinued when the facelift model arrives.

The last production run for the Toyota Camry V6 out of Japan will be later this month.

Based on this timing, the facelifted Toyota Camry Hybrid and four-cylinder are due in local showrooms about April 2021, however there will no longer be a V6 option.

The bulletin sent to Toyota dealers said: “January production is the last month before the facelift (goes into production). V6 to be discontinued.”

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