Team-BHP - Review: 7th-gen Toyota Camry Hybrid (2013)

Great review. Very detailed and kudos to you for sticking to telling us as much as you could about the "Hybridness" of the vehicle. I've had the opportunity to take short spins in the same vehicle in Thailand and have noticed that the car pulls cleanly on the expressway, though in city, I found the shifts to be a bit slow if I was trying to get ahead of traffic in a crowded place. I didn't notice the brake whine though but I assume that's due to my spending a very less amount of time in the car.

Toyota has taken a bold step and would be able to get decent feedback on the potential for such motors being used on smaller vehicles in the Toyota stable. I think India can really explode into being a Hybrid crazy market if the manufacturers are able to gain significant economies of scale and price the final product as well as the battery pack much lower.

I'd personally not think twice about buying a Hybrid over an Oil burner if FE was a major factor for me. Now its upto the GoI to ensure that the policy is rolled out unambiguously and really benefits users.

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Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 3220982)

Toyota has decided to locally assemble the Camry Hybrid in India.

Won't this affect the sales they get from the taxi market? I see lots of Prius cars on yellow plates in Mumbai. These being CBU's they only attract i believe 8% import duty, i'm not sure what the rule says for CKD cars.
I feel the Camry Hybrid will sell in very few numbers & doesn't warrant a CKD operation!

Quote:

Originally Posted by PPS (Post 3221269)

I feel the Camry Hybrid will sell in very few numbers & doesn't warrant a CKD operation!

Mini assembles the CountryMan in India. Mercedes has begun to assemble the GL class locally at 72lakhs. The locally assembled ML was a hit.

VW and Skoda assemble the Superb and Passat locally as well. None of these cars are volume ones but are still locally assembled.

If it was a CBU, the higher taxes will write it off even before launch.

Stunning pictures, perfectly written and explained! Good review!

Spend 15 minutes reading the review gives more information rather than talking to Sales executive for hours :)

Hybrid is the future of automobile, this environment friendly technology should come with hatchbacks and cost difference should be similar as difference between petrol and and diesel variants.

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SS

Although im big on going green, i think its stupid that the price for green cars are so much higher than their other counterparts that the point of having them (in pure economic terms) nullifies their existance. These companies are here to make a point tha they are doing something green. Its probably one of their CSR agendas so they do it. I doubt they actually care if these sell or not. To top that, our tax structure which should be dishing out sops to these green measures, makes it actually more expensive to own. At this price (see the Prius or even the Reva) one has to be too much of an environmentalist to buy these machines. Reasonably and marginally more expensive one can understand, not anything more than that.

Super review guys.

Can anyone shed light on what is the exact boot space in the Hybrid? Also, any idea what the on road price in Mumbai would translate to?

Good effort from Toyota but I wish there was a way in which manufacturers could price these at least a tad better. I found giving only a D mode to drive one of the most disappointing aspects of the car. I know its know corner carver but just D mode without tiptronic or paddles means it's really screaming its chauffeur creds and offers nothing to even the weekend enthusiast.

As usual a very detailed review and excellent one at that Vid's. I feel the price is quite reasonable in comparison to the standard Camry, if i had the budget i would blindly go for the hybrid model. Makes more sense and vfm paisa per paisa. Need to check if there are any further concessions with road tax etc which actually might do wonders to this cars fate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-16 (Post 3221290)

I couldn't agree more. There is no scenario where this car makes economic sense, even though it is priced lesser than what I expected.

I think what Toyota is doing is telling the government - "You wanted a locally assembled hybrid - here it is. The ball is in your court." GOI has always said in broad terms that they will give incentives for local manufacturing of fuel-saving car technologies - but they have never been specific because no one did it. Toyota is a world leader in this tech, if this car pushes the govt to announce a concrete policy then they can start putting hybrid power trains in all sorts of vehicles. I don't remember where but I read an interview with the MD of Toyota India where he said they can launch a hybrid Etios if things work out. This is, essentially, a locally-manufactured technology demonstrator.

From a purchase cost and environment/emissions perspective - CNG (where it's available) kills this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 3221278)

If it was a CBU, the higher taxes will write it off even before launch.

This car could be a 'hot pick' some months down the line if there is a clearance sale!
Remember what happened to the Civic Hybrid? From what i remember those cars were lying in their yard for months, so Honda decided to slash its price by a huge margin. And they got sold out within a few days.

:OT I sometimes spot a Lexus LS600hybrid in Mumbai. Can't believe the owner put down 1.5cr for a hybrid!:eek:

Great review as usual. Very detailed. I for one was waiting for TeamBHP Camry review as was sure this would come by you guys.

The car is great and after so many sales worldwide it sure is the standard in Hybrids.

BUT

1) Why was this launched in India, the normal Indian does not care about the environment. He does not even care what is under the hood as long as it is a badge we all win.

2)If they wanted mass adoption then why not price it like so and if it is prohibitive to price it low bring this tech out in the Corolla.

3) In our country most corporates as far as I know have hardly any rules about emissions and 33- 34 OTR Delhi, wont the corporate buy a Audi or a BMW.

4) Wouldn't it be better to launch the entry level Lexus as a trial in a hybrid avatar. In fact considering that diesel prices are soon going to hell, petrol will be a great option and Toyota should start bringing Lexus cars in only Hybrid versions and create their own niche. The germans won't know what hit them.

Over all I am happy such cars are being sold in India but it will hardly have any impact. The price is too high, there is hardly any incentive to adopt to this technology, The car looks like a normal Camry and so on.

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Originally Posted by MHG (Post 3221478)

How accurate is this claim of 19kmpl ARAI efficiency ? Should the battery recharged nightly to achieve it or can the same be obtained by using it like a normal petrol car - refuelling at the neighborhood pump and driving normally ?

It's not a plug in hybrid so you don't charge the battery though a plug point.

If you read the review, the battery gets charged via the petrol engine or by regenerative braking.

Toyota seems to be keeping their word on the long term plans to get the Indian market to accept hybrid cars. Kudos to them!

I have a little different opinion about this car. Most of the people ploughing down the money to get a Camry will have the cash to go for the C/3/A4. But the set of people would rather prefer the Low Profile, Plush back seat and a much more reliable ride. What my dad loved about this car.

Camry anyway has a select audience. It lacks diesel motors and costs higher than the Accord/Superb. Many Camry buyers will probably find the heart to plonk down the additional 5 lakhs for the hybrid.

If they were looking to save cash, they could have bought the Accord or the Superb instead.

Just my observation. Dont know how true it will turn out to be. stupid: