Faced with mounting competitive pressure in the midsize sedan segment, Toyota isn’t planning on raising incentives for the Camry beyond their current elevated level.
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After Camry sales failed to keep pace with industry growth through the first five months of the year, in July Toyota began offering aggressive discounts with the goal of keeping its bread-and-butter sedan the top-selling passenger car in the United States.
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According to Edmunds data, Camry spiffs averaged $2,581 in July, compared with $627 for the Honda Accord.
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The strategy worked, with Camry volume shooting up 16 percent to 34,780 units for the month, but Toyota doesn’t intend on increasing incentives again to chase further gains.
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“For incentives, we don’t think that our current level is necessarily high, but traditionally, we try not to be too dependent on them,” said Nobuyori Kodaira, executive vice president at Toyota. “I can’t really comment on our future plans, but our plan for now is to stick to that as much as possible.”
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In the future, some industry analysts believe that Toyota may respond to heightened competition from sedans like the Ford Fusion, Honda Accord and Nissan Altima by setting aside incentive spending in favor of a new strategy.
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After Camry sales failed to keep pace with industry growth through the first five months of the year, in July Toyota began offering aggressive discounts with the goal of keeping its bread-and-butter sedan the top-selling passenger car in the United States.
Â
According to Edmunds data, Camry spiffs averaged $2,581 in July, compared with $627 for the Honda Accord.
Â
The strategy worked, with Camry volume shooting up 16 percent to 34,780 units for the month, but Toyota doesn’t intend on increasing incentives again to chase further gains.
Â
“For incentives, we don’t think that our current level is necessarily high, but traditionally, we try not to be too dependent on them,” said Nobuyori Kodaira, executive vice president at Toyota. “I can’t really comment on our future plans, but our plan for now is to stick to that as much as possible.”
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In the future, some industry analysts believe that Toyota may respond to heightened competition from sedans like the Ford Fusion, Honda Accord and Nissan Altima by setting aside incentive spending in favor of a new strategy.
New safety features or even a refresh similar to Honda’s revamped 2013 Civic could be on the horizon to increase the Camry’s appeal, Kentaro Hayashi, an analyst at Tachibana Securities Co. in Tokyo, speculated to Automotive News.
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