As predicted by AutoSpies.com, Camry sales rocking the house!

Agent001,

If you think this Camry looks good, check out how they look overseas. In China specifically.

Forget checking out China.

Try checking out an eye physician ;)

Better looking than the old one, well it had to be.

Better looking than the competition? No.

A good looking car in isolation? If by good looking you mean same basic Camry formula with more kinky head/tail lights, then sure.

Now don't get me wrong, I think the new Camry is a solid effort by Toyota. Still as desirable as McDonald's cheeseburger, but at last it has a hint of attitude.

But here's a question. Why do the factory 'sports' styling kit that comes with the Camry look so 'tacked-on'. They spent zero time trying to make it look integrated, which makes the car look cheap.

Still, the elderly think it looks 'hip'.

Matthew,

Not too many other manufactors offer factor body kits for your run of the mill family sedan. Atleast Toyota is making an effort to appease sport oriented Camry customers. Personally I think it looks fantastic.

No matter how good a Camry looks, the styling will get old. Yes I'm a Toyota fan and I just admitted that. In a year or two you'll start seeing these Camrys all over the place. It's like if you saw dozens of Ferrari Enzo's on a daily basis for about 5 years (or about the life cycle of a Camry generation). You'd get tired of it too. I thought the last generation Camrys looked great also when they first came out, but now it's tired.

I suspect the new Civic will suffer the same fate also. Looks new and radical now, but just wait until everyone and their mom has one.

Just because a car becomes common, does not mean the styling will date.

Dated styling is the child of a mother who didn't try hard enough.

yea, what ever...

Stop the press!

I just read the comment:

"We wish the BMW 5-series looked this good!"

Whoa there! It's tricky mixing humour with automotive news, but 001 has succeeded.

Note to ALL OTHER motoring journos: You now have one less joke to pull out of your hats.

Will, we get it.

You can't tell a joke like 001 can.

I was dead serious...I think the new 5-series design is hideous. And the more I see it, the more I hate it.

The Camry is edgy, elegant, proportional and sleek with an Italian design flair to it.

001

Plus, the new Honda Accord design looks twenty years old next to it.

001

I drive an Italian car.

When I see the Camry, I see typical Japanese styling.

Agent001,

Here's a website of the Asian Camry.

http://product.guangzhoutoyota.com.cn/product/

And you thought the US versions were edgy, elegant, and sleek!

The Camry sells well because it is the perfect family car. There shouldn't be any surprises there.

Good look is in the eyes of the beholder. I personally think the new Camry is the ugliest Camry ever. There are bumps here and there and out of place. The tail lights are oddly shaped. I think Toyota try too hard and too much. If I had to choose I would say the 2nd generation ('92-'96) Camry looks the best. It still look quite modern even though it debut over a decade ago. Now that's good design.

001-
I'd like to see you put this thing through the slaloms at a speed faster than 30mph. I've heard it has loads of body roll.
I'm gonna take the 5/Camry comparo as a joke for now.

Well to say Toyota is building beautiful cars may be an overstatement, but they are starting to look less like your homely 3rd cousin and at least more like an average girl.

Matthew, you stated.... "Better looking than the competition? No." May I ask what is the Camry's competiton in your eyes? and which of the competition looks better? I hear people on here make the scomments all the time, yet there is never any perspective as to what yo all think is better. And I am speaking apples to apples not Camrys to 7-series BMW's... As far as I can see, the Camry is better looking than the Mazda6, Honda Accord and Chevy Malibu. The Ford Fusion is at least a little interesting looking, but I think of all the family sedans, IN THIS PRICE RANGE, the Camry is the best. Inside it feels like it is solid as a rock and the drive is good FOR WHAT IT IS. When you test the COMPETITION, it handles well (better than the Malibu) and has good power for overtaking on highways and such. And I have to agree with 001....the 5 series is a DOG! It looks good from the front angle and 3/4 front view, but get to the side, rear 3/4 and rear, what in the world was Bangle thinking?? That truck/deck lid is HIDEOUS! It looks like it was plopped down on there as an afterthought, like "uhhohhh we forgot a trunk! Hurry lets graft one on here" or as I would say in my native German "Wir vergaßen einen Stamm! Hast! Lassen Sie uns ein bilden!"

00JT, that has been my only thought since I saw the Chinese Camry about a week ago. "Why the hell didn't we get that version". My only thought would be that will be the refresh or new version of the Camry we get. Seriously, if Toyota had brought that one over here, i'd get it in a heartbeat. I went ahead and pulled the pictures out of the flash file for everyone to see (please be nice on my friend's server)

http://jeffe.trifocus.net/Camry

oops, that should be a lowercase "camry" in the URL

Forgot to compare it to a Chrysler 300. That is an interesting car. Amuzingly the Huyndai Sonata has a more harmonious and pleasing styling. This Camry is hideous. Alas beauty is not the reason people buy it. It is scary that most Toyota/Lexus lovers do not even have a notion of auto esthetics.

Doesn't the Chinese Camry actually look more like the Lexus?

For some reason, the new Camry reminds me of a diabetic, pregnant, elephant.

mstangpny07 - That grill reminds me of a buck toothed hillbillie.

yea plano, with only the two front teeth!

I understand that this is a website for car enthusiasts but dang,' does anybody on this site like cars outside of BMW, MB, or Audi.

I love the new camry's styling. No need to explain why. You all don't care, its still a Toyota, right!

I wouldn't buy a Camry simply for the fact that there are too many out there. Try finding your silver Camry in the Costco parking lot or the mall. I thought the previous Camry looked good when it was released, then a month later, I couldn't stand it. It's looking to be the same for this new Camry.

BTW...if 001 doesn't like the 5 series design, why did he buy a 5 series wagon?

What?

So if you don't like the looks of the Camry, you can't like the 5-series?

Even if they look COMPLETELY different? The 5-series is chiseled and bold, the Camry is rounded and a bit frumpy.

Will, out of all the Lexus fans you must be the most stylistically-challenged.

You constantly compare completely different-looking cars, and expect us to believe they look the same just because you happened to find a little stylistic detail shared by both.

Let's put it another way. If Toyota did rip-off the 5-series as you say (meaning overall the cars look almost identical), then they did a really bad job of it.

Maybe you just aren't a very artistic person, unable to see the whole picture. You instead look at specific details (headlights or grille) and try your best to match them to another car.

It's actually quite childish.

I'm still visually pleased every time i see a new Camry. It has a lot of character details, inlcuding those cool 3-D taillights. Proportionally and stylistically, it is probably the best mid sizer.
Malibu-too tall and boxy
Fusion/Mazda6-too small
Altima-I dont know what it is that i dont like
Accord-yeccchhh
Sebring-ummmmmmm, no
But I gotta admit the 92-96(?) was still the best. They still look good, but were criticized as boring at the time. And BTW maikoazu, that would be Gen3, not Gen2
just my opinion.

Jeffy210,

Thanks for uploading all those pictures, made them much easier to look at. I too think that perhaps Toyota may transfer the Asian Camry styling to the US when it's due for a facelift in 2010. Thats so far away!

marc,

You're absolutely right. I forgot about the late 80's boxy Camry. The 92-96 was a Gen3. My mistake. =)

Toyota is now building cars that actually LOOK good!
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Sorry. The only Toyota's which look good are some of those JDM models which we don't get. Toyota seems to have a habit of exporting bland cars to the world, but keeping the good stuff in Japan.

And I think the new Camry is even worse (design-wise) than the older model. Call me crazy, but I thought the last Camry wasn't too bad looking. This...this new one...terrible.

That new Camry has got to be the most ugly fishy looking car out of Japan this year.

It's plain old ugly.

The Camry has been the best selling car in the United States for eight of the last nine years starting in 1997. This is Toyota's "bread and butter" vehicle (some would argue it's even Toyota's "gravy" too). The Camry is aimed right at the buyer demographic not the enthusiast demographic.

If I had to choose between the Camry and it's main rival the Accord - I'd pick the Accord. (Honda-Acura bias perhaps or maybe I'm reading too many consumer reports and Motor Trend).

Yes, the new Camry has a distinct Toyota look.

The Japanese design architecture is very different to that of the Europeans, as each have different philosophies.

I'm disagreeing with you only because you are wrong.

Yes, there are people who like other than German cars but the German car owners are so worried about the sucess of Toyota/Lexus and, they have so much time on their hands that bitching has become a way of life for them. If I ever were to read a nice comment about a Toyota product from a MB, BMW or Audi fanatic, I would probably swoon from amazement. BMW=Bitch Moan Whine

Toyota did not get to be number 2 in the US (and soon, probably number 1) by building cars that people DON'T like. The Camry is the number one selling car in the US because it is a great car, in spite of the opinions of German car owners.