Sometimes pizza tastes better when reheated the next day. Alas, the same does not hold true for cars. Toyota Australia was battling a perception by consumers that its V6 Camry wasn’t a viable alternative to the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon. First, they tried marketing the V6 Camry under a different name (Vienta). Then, when that didn’t help much, they brought out the “big guns”: a locally assembled version of the now six-year old Avalon. Unsurprisingly, the utterly dull 2000 Avalon flopped and was purchased predominately by the same people who were already buying Toyotas.
Unlike Mitsubishi, who attempted to rival Ford and Holden more convincingly by offering the Magna Sports and VR-X, with sports-tuned suspension and racier details, Toyota decided to plod along with a range of plain Avalons. The Avalon’s stuffy image and dull styling led then-head of Toyota Australia, John Conomos, to describe the Avalon as having a “buying audience in God’s waiting room”. This sad-looking facelift arrived in 2003 but did little for sales; Toyota decided to target fleets, including taxi companies, and developed an LPG dual-fuel version.
Toyota never did figure out how to expand its presence in the rapidly contracting full-size segment. The handsome Aurion, a lightly restyled V6 Camry (using Asian-market bodywork) replaced the Avalon and even offered an Australia-designed Sportivo model. While more successful than the Avalon, it gets outsold around 4-to-1 by the fleet-favorite Camry. At least it looks nice.
The Aurion featured here was the last version of the older style Camry here in the U.S. through 2014.5. It seemed ironic that the Avalon sold reasonably well here because it had much of a different if not larger body design than the Camry. In addition the Avalon’s size is almost as large as some of the Lexus models sold here.
Agree totally with the “sad” impression. That face looks like it just witnessed another Avalon backing over the edge of a cliff : (
Reminds me of the 1997-98 Hyundai Sonata front end.
The way the high beams are styled up into the hood.
I don’t like headlights with unnecessary styling decorations. The late Monte Carlo “keyhole” design never looked right.
That general headlight shape ruined the original Jaguar XF for me. Beautiful car until you notice the resemblance to the Monte Carlo…then you can’t un-see it. At least the facelift got rid of that ugly styling cue and made the XF as attractive as a Jaguar should be.
Bingo! That’s what I always thought.
Reminds me of the AU Falcon. But way worse looking.
This was a generation behind the Avalon that was being sold in the US at the time: Toyota apparently shipped the 1995-1999 tooling to Australia in 2000.
Despite radio personality John Laws touting the Avalon loudly and regularly it failed dramatically, virtually the first Toyota since the Starfire debacle to do so,
For the same money buyers could get an upscale Ford or Holden with a V8 engine and much better road manners than the Avalon and unlike the US Australians hadnt taken to FWD very well in large cars. It was the wrong car at any time and in NZ at least nice examples are very very cheap.
From what I remember, Toyota Australia also adapted things to use the Camry floorpan or a variation of it underneath these because they were built on the same line as the Camry, they weren’t a direct copy of the US car.
I remember when the Camry first debuted here in the USA. Although I liked its styling, I was never a fan of front-engine, front-wheel drive cars. I’ve always been old-school when it comes to cars. I’ve always preferred either front-engine, rear-wheel drive, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive, or rear-engine, all-wheel drive.
As time went on, the Camry began to look uglier, and uglier. Until now, it’s the most hideous looking car I’ve seen Toyota offer. It’s uglier than the Prius series of cars.
I think the Camry was even less successful in Europe; you hardly ever see them and Toyota stopped importing it, replacing the model with the UK-made Avensis which is only slightly more successful. Again I am amazed by the success that car had in the US.
The last Camry we had was this generation, more than 10 years ago. Either with a 2.4 liter 4-cylinder or a
3.0 liter V6. No diesels.
The Camry was bigger (and did cost more) than the Avensis; E-segment vs D-segment.
I wonder which Camry Europe got as all markets do not get the same cars, there are three grades of suspension and at least two types of steering rack the US and Japan share suspension tune set up for total comfort and little else NZ got stiffer grade shocks and springs ans faster steering racks Aussie got positive straight ahead racks and mid range suspension, It was simply Toyota tuning their world car for different market preferences, Everyone got the redesigned engine and taller gearing for better fuel economy with the first world Camrys I mean who wanted a Camry that could smoke the tyres at 160kmh and hit 240, the original development models could but only Toyotas proving ground beta test market got em.
It seems to be the XV30, introduced in 2001. Although there’s not a single reference to Europe here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Camry_(XV30)
In factory-trim it was sitting rather high on its wheels, as if is was built for bad roads only.
Johannes, the first Camry (or at least the ones I – very rarely – encounter here in Austria) was before the Avensis and was more Mazda 626 in size. The current 6 sells very well here, far better than the Avensis and I believe as well as Ford’s Mondeo. And size-wise, it id now so big that it is straddling the border between the two segments (the same can be said for the Opel Insignia).
The Camry was always in a higher segment. In the nineties the Carina E was Mazda’s 626 competitor. The successor of the Carina E was the 1997 T22 Avensis, picture below. From a European point of view the Carina E and Avensis were the midsizers, while the Camry was the top model Toyota.
The 2003 T25 Avensis was the next generation. This must have been the Avensis that was on the market when the Camry was withdrawn. I remember that this Avensis was available with a 2.4 liter 4-cylinder, must have been the same engine as in the Camry.
The Camry was available with a 6-cylinder, the Carina E and Avensis never were. On the other hand, the Carina E and Avensis had diesel engines, something the Camry never had.
The Aurion shown looks very close to the “old” model Camry sold in the U.S. but the North American Camry had less aggressive front facias, even in it’s “sporty” SE model guise….I would bet the rear is different from the (awkward) version sold here, too.
In the U.S. the Avalon was/is targeted at the type of customers who used to buy Buicks until they decided they wanted a more reliable car….looks aren’t all that important. For that matter, looks aren’t THE reason Camry buyers keep trading for another Camry. Reliability and strong residuals sell quite a few Camrys here.
That 1st generation Avalon sold well in the U.S. because it was new, but the styling of 2nd generation was truly odd….the front, especially. Subsequent generations have walked the fine line between odd and outrageous.
I never understood why Toyota has been so successful at marketing such boring cars as the Camry and the Avalon in North America. Here in Canada, the Avalon isn’t popular at all (and it really failed at replacing the Cressida) but the Camry is still… But most of the interesting Toyota models are now sold with a Lexus badge at a limited number of dealerships (and nowhere close to where I live!) with a premium price tag (also far from what I can afford!), there’s a Lexus ad displayed at the right of my computer screen right now which shows a $5000 rebate/credit on the 2015 RC F but the price is still far from my range!
I have to admit I currently drive an old 2001 Camry CE V6 and it’s been mostly trouble free and a good value since I got it. But while it doesn’t have any characteristic that makes it annoying, it’s not a car that can make anyone thrilled about it either!
“…it doesn’t have any characteristics that make it annoying, it’s not a car that can make anyone thrilled about it, either.”
A lot of people think that that right there is a good start for a decent car. Add in near anvil reliability and you have a winning combo for sure.
I have 4 sisters, 1 is on her 2nd Prius and will probably trade it for a 3rd in a year or two. Another sister is on her 3 Subaru, but is finding that 3rd time is not a charm. Her experiences before #3 went bad convinced another sister to FINALLY switch from a lifetime commitment to domestics (specifically Mopar products) which she is regretting. And sister 4? On her 2nd or 3rd Subaru after 3 Explorers…the infamous Ford 5 speed automatic transmission soured her on Ford products.
So most of my family just wants a reliable/trouble-free car. My father and brothers? It’s only domestics.
Camry (and Accord) hit a sweet spot, especially with the vast majority of Americans that are not passionate about cars: unlike the domestics from the 70s and 80s, here were cars that sipped gas and needed minimal upkeep, kept their value, and could run 150k miles+. Those critical 20 years, say 1980-2000, completely reforged the car scene in the US. Try now as they might, the domestics remain a shadow of themselves except in trucks and SUVs. I don’t see the domestics ever regaining the market share they used to have despite some excellent, relatively competitive products.
That said, our own experience has been rocky every time we tried a non-Japanese car….our Volvo, while an incredibly comfortable car and like driving a tank, was also highly unreliable. Our Ford Edge, while better than the Volvo, has not been impressive to where we’d consider another Ford. Next year we’re heading back to Japan Inc, where the premium pricing of their products is worth the peace of mind.
Howard, I always said what almost killed the US car industry was the sheer drop in reliability levels between cars in the 70s and the 80s and those it produced in the previous decades. I truly believe that a Chevy Citation with Toyota-like reliability would have been enormously successful… Once you lose your reputation, it is extremely difficult to regain; here in Europe it took Opel a very long time to make people forget the bad 90s but it is at least happening. Lancia on the other hand never recovered from the rust scandals in 70s and 80s and looks set to be killed. Nevertheless, it still does not entirely explain the “Camry in the US” phenomenon…
Having owned both a Diamante (2002 LS) and 3 first-gen Avalons, I can tell you that they are dramatically different cars. I have enjoyed them all immensely, even equally, but in different ways. The Diamante was stealthy and attractive – in fact, one of the lowest drag coefficients of any production car not specifically designed to cheat the wind (electric cars, hybrids), had surprisingly sophisticated technology for a 90s design (traction control with rudimentary and elegantly devised anti-slip feature called Trace Control, electroluminescent gauges, adaptive INVECS transmission, first production GDI engine-a 3.0 6G72 variant with 270 hp in 1997 Japanese models). But it was temperamental and not too well built. The F4A51 trans is well known for self destructing internally and the body is not rust proofed well. The Avalon is a dead reliable, by-the-numbers tank of a car. Aside from the too-complex evaporative emissions system and a timing belt (the Diamante had a belt, too, and was an interference design to boot), they just never break. The first-gen Avalon is one of the few FWD sedans that can easily see 300k miles or more on the original trans and engine, often with little or no rust even in the US northeast. It never inspired passion in anyone, but I have fallen in love with the design for its absurd mechanical solidity. The Diamante was, within reason (for a FWD midsize Japanese near-luxury sedan) a car you bought new with your heart. The Avalon is a dusty, trusty, reliable old dame of a car that just never dies. Shame about the botched restyle, as the Aussies missed out on buying a solid long term vehicular comrade.
I bet a sad-looking car gets treated more gently than a mean-looking car.
I’m amazed that you managed to find a late Avalon that’s not a taxi. I hardly recognised it in white and without the Taxi sign on the roof!
Here in Victoria Toyota was so desperate to shift them they pitched them to the taxi companies. The local taxi driver (yep, only one in my town!) absolutely hated his, after years of driving big torquey Aussie sixes. And you don’t see any Toyotas being used as taxis around here these days, though I understand some cities use them.
First, i am definitely a “car guy”. I’ve owned MGs, an E-type, 3 BMWs, an Olds 442, 1964 Thunderbird convertible,etc. But i have to say, when i travel long distances, i always take my Avy. Quiet, comfortable, good gas mileage and utterly dependable. Boring?, undoubtedly. But when travelling long distances with the family, some excitement can be sacrificed. Probably why Toyotas and Hondas are so popular.
I do think the popularity of the Camry in the U.S. vs Europe, and it seems Australia as well, is fascinating. And in a world of global Focuses, Golfs, Corollas, 3 Series, E Class and Hyundais, should be an automotive design and marketing case study. I’ve owned four Toyotas, two of which are sitting outside now, but have never considered a Camry – or Avalon.
Only a part of an explanation is that the Camry was never available with proper diesel engines in Europe. And in this segment (big sedan, executive car) that’s a deadly sin.
With a “proper diesel” I mean a modern and powerful 6 cylinder turbo diesel, displacement around 2.5 to 3.0 liter. Not a stomping 4 cylinder workhorse-diesel with that kind of displacement. Some numbers from 10 to 15 years ago: 320 CDI, 2.5 TDI and 530d.
Say what you want about DaimlerChrysler, but at least the Chrysler 300C was offered with a 3.0 liter V6 Mercedes diesel. One of those proper diesel engines.
Seems like the Camry, for all its success in the USA, is probably too big in size for most markets. Avalon is even more so, so I’m not really surprised to see it have difficulty in Australia where one has the locally entrenched Falcon and Commodore – which come in different flavors from sporty to luxury. It’s a nice, comfy car, I grant you that – but it’s not “exciting” and doesn’t really add anything to what’s available Down Under in that segment which is not growing.
These launched in New Zealand in 2000 with the song ‘Avalon’ by Roxy Music. The song went down well with the public; the car rather less so. In fact the Avalon remains one of the few times that a new Toyota bombed in our new car market. Hardly ever see any around any more; I find that no great loss.
I’ve always considered the Avalon to be the Toyota LeSabre. Or, if you’d rather, the Toyota 88. It’s the right size, and it’s the right type of car. Comfortable, a little plush, road isolating, but not out-and-out luxury. More often bought by folks in the 50+ age bracket. And, there seems to be a market for that kind of car, especially with Buick having gone in a different direction with the LaCrosse. Its main competitors here are Impala, 300, and Taurus, and I have a feeling that compared to Taurus and Impala the average Avalon buyer skews higher income and older. 300 is harder to pin down because the V8 models are aimed quite differently…
Makes sense that it didn’t do as well in Australia, especially given the “sad face” makeover that we thankfully never saw here.
Sad to read that the Avalon was not well received Down Under. I have a 2004 and I love it. I actually like the facelift that the Aussie model received on the front and rear end. Very spacious and cut above the average Camry, I’m in love every time I get in!