Camry hybrid brings technology to mainstream car
Teri Wiss says she’s neither a car person nor a computer person. Yet her new car, a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid, well, let her tell you: “It’s almost more of a computer than a car. Everything about this car is different than what I’m used to.”
Wiss, an occupational therapist who works in Cupertino, was one of the first drivers in the Silicon Valley to get the keys to a hybrid version of the Camry, the bestselling passenger car in the United States for eight of the last nine years.
The Camry Hybrid gets 40 miles per gallon in city driving and 38 mpg on the highway, according to its government fuel-economy label. It has a suggested starting price of $25,900.
Its arrival, at a time when gas prices exceed $3 a gallon, is a watershed moment in the history of the hybrid.
When the first gasoline-electric hybrid, the two-seat Honda Insight, went on sale in December 1999, a gallon of regular unleaded sold for $1.36. Gas now hovers around $2.80 to $3 a gallon.
“The Camry makes hybrid a mainstream concept,” said Jim Lentz, executive vice president at Toyota Motor Sales USA.
The Camry becomes the 12th hybrid model available to U.S. car buyers. That list includes higher-mileage versions of popular vehicles such as the Honda Accord and Civic sedans and the Ford Escape and Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicles.
The Toyota Prius, which doesn’t come in a gas-only version, remains the iconic symbol of the hybrid generation. It has been the bestselling hybrid since it went on sale in 2000, and became the first hybrid to top 100,000 annual sales in 2005.
Honda, which sells three hybrid models, sold 25,865 Civic Hybrids in 2005. Honda said this week that it would discontinue the slow-selling Insight this year but would add a five-seat hybrid by 2009 that will be smaller and cheaper than the Civic.
Federal tax credits also make the Prius a popular choice.
At Toyota of Sunnyvale, about 300 people are on the waiting list to get a Prius. That’s a four- to six-month wait, said owner Adam Simms. Only about 40 are on the list for a Camry Hybrid, for a two- to three-month wait.
At Piercey Toyota in San Jose, several customers on the Prius waiting list have moved over to the Camry.
Brian Ressler, the dealership’s general sales manager, said he’s uncertain why, but “a five-month wait for the Prius vs. nearly nothing for the Camry Hybrid” is probably one factor.
The only other gas-electric vehicle that requires a stint on a waiting list is the Honda Civic Hybrid.
“The whole Civic lineup is selling like crazy,” said Sage Marie, a Honda spokesman, adding that waiting lists vary by dealer.
Lee Cai, sales manager at Anderson Honda in Palo Alto, said 25 to 30 people are on the list for a Civic Hybrid at his dealership, about a six-week wait.
Toni Jette, a Kaiser Permanente pharmacist who lives in Milpitas, was getting ready to turn in her leased Toyota Solara, and she knew she wanted a hybrid. “I do a lot of driving for my job, and gas prices are just crazy,” she said.
“Our country has to start facing facts,” Jette said. “We’ve got to cut down on the consumption of oil. This is my first step in doing that.”
She joined a Prius waiting list but said she was not thrilled with the car after taking a drive in a friend’s model. Then an employee at Piercey mentioned that Toyota was bringing out a hybrid version of the Camry.
“I’m much more pleased with it,” she said after a week behind the wheel of a blue Camry Hybrid. “It drives nicer. It’s classier.”
Source: www.jsonline.com
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