The Toyota Camry is and has been a best-seller in the midsize sedan segment for a long time. That’s not about to change.
Given the amount of trims and variations offered with the Toyota Camry, we get impression that Toyota will go down with the ship should the midsize sedan segment ever truly sink. In the meantime, the Camry continues to dominate among sedans no matter what the competition throws at it.
Even if sales numbers are dropping, they remain considerable and Toyota intends to keep its share of the sales pie. Truth be told, the current generation Camry is the best ever. It’s the best driving, best assembled, best design and best equipped ever. It is the best sedan in the segment.
Now, depending on who you ask and when, we at Motor Illustrated occasionally bring up the Honda Accord as the best pick but we all agree that most other options (Nissan Altima, Hyundai Sonata, Ford Fusion and more) can’t match the content, reliability, and ownership experience of the Honda and Toyota. It’s doubtful a shuffle will occur at the very top but the next best option will likely be the 2020 Subaru Legacy – we’ve yet to drive it but we will soon.
The 2020 Toyota Camry’s standard 203-horsepower 2.5-litre 4-cylinder engine has no true weaknesses and is perfectly served by the standard 8-speed automatic transmission. The hybrid, no word of a lie, takes performance a step further with its 208-horsepower Hybrid Synergy Drive system and electronically controlled CVT transmission (ECVT). Both powertrains
The 2020 Toyota Camry is a carryover model from 2019 with some minor as of yet unknown tweaks. Should important changes come up, we will update this story.
Things the 2020 Toyota Camry does well
2020 Toyota Camry | Photo: Toyota
- Buying a Camry is like going to Costco. You are aware that Costco may not always have the best pricing but overall, the savings and buying experience is above average. The Camry is above average. In other words, you’re never wrong to select a Camry.
- Resale values and reliability are now only two elements that justify the purchase of this car.
- The current generation Toyota Camry is an extremely competent road car. It is comfortable, agile and refined – you can now have your cake and eat it too.
- The hybrid version is the tops of its kind. More power and better fuel efficiency will only make you love your Camry even more.
- The Camry’s cabin is a gigantic comfortable place to spend many an hour on your way to your favorite destination.
- There are nearly ten iterations of the 2020 Toyota Camry to select from, you can spend $27,000 or $41,000 but either way, you’re getting a great car.
Things the 2020 Toyota Camry doesn’t do so well
2020 Toyota Camry | Photo: Toyota
- It’s a Toyota Camry. Never expect to look or sound cool when driving a Camry or telling your friends about it. That is, unless they’ve driven the new car. Then, they’ll regret their Chevy Malibu or Kia Optima.
- The fact that the Camry is not offered with AWD like the new Nissan Altima and Subaru Legacy could be considered an issue. If you were thinking Toyota RAV4 (do it!) for its AWD capability but prefer the sedan body style, you’ll have to consider the competition.
What we tell our friends
2020 Toyota Camry | Photo: Toyota
“What are you waiting for?” “Buy the Camry!” This pretty much sums it all up. As we’ve said, we’re fans of Toyota’s latest crop of products and know that the 2020 Toyota Camry is the best all-around midsize sedan.
The Honda Accord is up there, while all the others trail behind. The 2020 Subaru Legacy will undoubtedly hoist itself into our top picks but the Toyota Camry is sure-bet today and likely, for ever, or at least until the sedan ship hits the bottom of ocean.
2020 Toyota Camry Photo Gallery
2020 Toyota Camry | Photo: Toyota
2020 Toyota Camry | Photo: Toyota
2020 Toyota Camry | Photo: Toyota
What would really be nice would be for Toyota to pull together all of it’s resources for the next generation Toyota Camry and really make the car “a car for every tastes.” It’s no secret Toyota is working with Mazda on an all-new platform, which can support a rear wheel drive setup along with the new Toyota modular platform. We also know that Toyota is teaming up with Mazda to produce an inline-6 longitudinal drivetrain with some sort of sky-active hybrid technology or whatever. We also know that Toyota has partnered with Subaru for the 86 coupe and with BMW on the Supra. Here’s what I’d like to see from a new Camry. An evolution (not revolution) in body style because for the Most part, the new Camry looks pretty good. I would like to see more of the body language from the Japan-Only Toyota Mark-X implemented to the front of the Camry for a more aggressive look. As always, there needs to be a base model 4-cylinder which could be had with an all wheel drive system since it needs to be set up for the everyday commuter, a 301hp XSE Camry would join the ranks above that along with a mazda-toyota collaborated skyactive hybrid putting out 250hp or whatever this thing will make. Above that, there needs to be some true performance models. A Camry GT would join the ranks above the XSE with a 341hp 2.5L Boxster engine (same from the STI S209) with a 10-speed auto behind it, along with a performance suspension, brakes, chassis, aero, interior styling ,etc. There needs to be TRD upgrades as well including exhaust, suspension, intake, styling, etc. Above that needs to be the Camry TRD with the BMW S58 inline-6 twin turbo setup pushing 470hp/440lb-ft of torque through a 10-speed auto with a high performance AWD system (Blend of STI and Lexus-F) TRD suspension including a similar coil over setup, sway bars, and strut bars that Lexus has for their F-Sport accessories for the GS350 F-Sport, TRD performance exhaust with active shutters controlled from inside the car, TRD recaro seats, an interior similar to that of the new Supra, Supra inspired taillamps that are the same shape as the current camry taillamps, a taller TRD rear lip spoiler, rear diffuser with quad tipped exhaust, 20×9.5, front 20×10.5″ rear TRD wheels, Rockford fosgate stereo, and a few other things. While this would increase the performance following for TRD, it would not interfere with the Lexus F lineup as Lexus would be going more with the 3.5L Twin Turbo Hybrid setup and other drivetrain hardware so you have cars that will appeal to different markets.