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Newest Camry Breaks Mold in Styling; Performance

For the past 28 years, the Toyota Camry was always known to provide families a safe, comfortable and capable ride to any destination local and across the nation. It became such an icon and so popular that it captured the number one position in terms of sales in the United States, holding that position tightly for many years.

Through those years, the Camry has drastically evolved with the times, always providing suburb fuel economy, keeping up with technology and maintaining a reputation for providing a high quality ultra-reliable product for a very reasonable price. This fall Toyota has introduced a brand new update of its most popular vehicle. I was priviledged to be among the first to experience the new 2012 Camry at a special press launch event which was held at the historic and famed Worthington Hotel in Ft. Worth, TX.

On the first eve of our stay we were treated to a wonderful meal at the very popular Reata restaurant just across the street from the hotel in Ft. Worth’s Sundance Square complex. The complex is famous for providing all types of fun for everyone. From jewelry stores to restaurants, comedy clubs, galleries and a center park to rest and relax to a vast selection of bars – all are readily available for visitor’s enjoyment. Sundance is also known for hosting a yearly Christmas parade (Ft. Worth Parade of Lights) which was attended by over 100,000 people this year.

One place people love to gather to watch this (almost 30 year running) parade and holiday festivity is from Reata’s open-aired bar located on the restaurant’s roof. Our evening meal at Reata took place in the stylish western influenced private banquet room located underneath the building. Dinner consisted of multiple courses followed by Reata’s traditional apple crisp complimented with a large scoop of cinnamon ice cream.The next morning our hosts provided a catered breakfast followed by the 2012 Camry’s vehicle release and press conference.

Jim Colon, Toyota’s Communication Director of Motor Sales, began by assuring that Toyota remains committed to providing, “Smart, safe worry-free and Best-selling U.S. cars. Colon also pointed out that the current generation Camry has held the honor of being the number one car sold in America every year. It is also the most “American Made” model in the industry. Its durability and reliability is renowned with an astounding 90 percent of all sold models continuing to be on the road today. ”

Camry is built at the auto manufacturer’s plant located in Georgetown, Kentucky. Over nine million cars have been built there.
This particular plant has been very highly recognized, having received more JD Power quality awards than any other plant in America.

All good news – but one thing those of us in the automotive media really wanted to know (aside from driving and reviewing the new Camry) things which were never verbally addressed or mentioned in the press conference. The first being what impact the Japanese auto manufacturer has faced since the earthquakes and tsunami of earlier this year and how did they affect Toyota’s production and business. Also not mentioned was Toyota’s recent woes of consumer recalls and multiple product problems especially in the areas of safety.

How these issues were addressed by the company and most importantly how have they since been resolved? Upon arriving at our test drive location our questions were quickly but subtly answered. We were put on a test track, told to accelerate and brake at the same time to see what happened.

The resounding answer was that the company had solved what was a perceived problem (Toyota has resolved complaints made against them regarding alleged brake failures and inability for immediate ignition response by now providing a simple push button ignition). At this time there still remains considerable doubt whether the ‘unintended acceleration’ ever was really a problem or not.

We also did something that no one anticipates when visualizing a Camry launch … we took to the track to experience cornering, moving through chicanes, and to feel the sportiness embodied in this new Camry.

By days end, all in attendance learned that the 2012 Camry does have the capabilities to put such bad publicity behind them, resolving issues while continuing to move into the future.

The new Camry breaks ground in many ways: daring styling, a new more luxurious interior and enough torque and power to be taken to the track, all while still providing the fuel economy that the company has been famous for.

Diana Claussen

Diana Merrill Claussen has been involved in the journalism and photography industry since 2000 and moved to Texas from Florida in July 2004. Diana inherited her love of cars from her father and the love of speed from the racers and aviators in her family. Her professional career is also in the public relations industry while her personal interests include; outdoor activites, reading, family time, volunteering and animal care.

  

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 8th, 2012 at 11:27 am and is filed under Toyota Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.