Camry aims at younger crowd

Toyota's redesigned 2012 Camry aims to attract younger buyers without alienating loyal customers, and it is setting base prices on all but the most basic version below the prices of the 2011 models they replace.

Executives of the Japanese automaker unveiled the new Camry on Tuesday with presentations in Hollywood, Dearborn, New York and Georgetown, Ky., where President Akio Toyoda drove the first one off the line at an assembly plant.

There are five trim levels of the 2012 model. The base prices, including delivery charges, range from $22,715 for the Camry L to $26,660 for the Camry hybrid. The trim levels that Toyota expects to sell in the highest volumes -- the LE and SE -- are priced $200 and $965 lower, respectively, than the 2011 models they replace.

"The launch of the new Camry is very important to our company," Toyoda said. "This car has become a symbol of Toyota's success over the years."

The Camry has been the best-selling car in the U.S. for 13 of the last 14 years. Not even the company's record number of safety recalls in late 2009 and early 2010 knocked it from that perch. But the Nissan Altima, Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Malibu and Hyundai Sonata have narrowed the gap in the first seven months of 2011, with Camry sales leading Altima by about 21,000 cars.

The average buyer of the 2011 Camry was 60 years old, according to Jim Colon, Toyota vice president of product communications. The automaker hopes the new model, especially with the SE version tuned for higher performance, will attract younger buyers.

Anyone looking for a radically new exterior design may be disappointed.

While all of the sheet metal is new, the exterior projects a fresh, but incrementally different look. Toyota has added a larger trunk and a roomier interior.

"I thought the redesign will definitely please the loyal Camry buyer," said TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Toprak. "But it will probably fall short in conquesting large numbers of new buyers who haven't owned a Camry before."

Camry accounted for 14.3% of all midsize cars sold in the U.S. this year through July, but that is down from 17.2% in 2010 and 20.1% in 2009.

This is the seventh generation of the Camry, which Toyota launched in 1983 to compete with the Honda Accord. Since 1987, Toyota has assembled nearly all Camrys sold in the U.S. at its Kentucky factory.

Consumers can choose either a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine that gets 35 m.p.g. on the highway, up from 32 in the 2011 Camry, or a 3.5-liter V6 that gets 30 m.p.g. on the highway. The Camry hybrid will get 43 m.p.g. in the city and 39 on the highway, considerably better than the 35 city/31 highway mileage of the 2011 hybrid. It also is peppier, generating about 200 horsepower, up from 187 in the 2011 model. The new hybrid's base price is about $1,150 lower at $26,660.

The 2012 model will be the first Toyota vehicle to offer the company's new Entune multimedia system designed to enable hands-free use of cell phones and voice-activated access to a limited number of apps that help drivers find restaurants, movie listings and locations or listen to a variety of music beyond what is available on AM or FM radio.

Toyota officials said Entune will cost an additional $1,050.

The mobile apps will be free for three years, then customers will pay an annual subscription fee that Toyota has not yet announced.

The new Camry, except for the hybrid, will go on sale Oct. 3. The hybrid will be for sale in early November.