Rides : 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid now available nationwide

Toyota Motor Corp, on Tuesday announced that the 2012 Camry Hybrid is arriving at Toyota dealerships across the nation.

The $25,900 (basic model) Camry Hybrid model comes with an updated version of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain that helps propel the Hybrid LE model to EPA MPG Ratings of 43 city/39 highway — 41 mpg combined.
Powering the electric motor, the Camry Hybrid’s battery pack sits behind the rear seats, intruding on cargo space and sacrificing the folding backseat for what amounts to a glorified pass-through.
The 2012 Camry Hybrid is available in two trim levels, the LE that starts at $25,900, which is a $1,150 decrease from the 2011 model, and the XLE, priced from $27,400, which represents an $800 decrease from a similarly equipped 2011 model, always according to Toyota.
On the exterior, newly sculpted lines front and back eliminate some of the bulbous humps of the old model adding up to an attractive presence. The grille is redesigned wider presenting a purposeful new face for the car.
The Camry Hybrid LE includes 10 airbags, projector beam headlamps, dual-zone auto A/C, Smart Key System with push button start, steering wheel with audio and Blue Logic controls, metallic tech-grained interior trim and tone-on-tone fabric seats among its list of standard equipment.

Rides : Toyota to stop importing Camry models from Japan

Toyota is allowing its North American teams a bit more freedom to build cars that best suit the market in which they work. Earlier in the year, Toyota announced that American designers would be more keyed in to model development, and now comes word that the automaker will no longer be importing Japanese-built Camry sedans into our market. Instead, starting with the 2012 Camry, the popular mid-size sedan will be built Stateside.

Toyota aims to sell 360,000 examples of the Camry per year. In order to produce enough units, Toyota will build the car at both its Georgetown, Kentucky plant and Subaru's assembly facility in Indiana. By building the Camry in the U.S., the automaker will be attempting to offset losses through dollar-yen exchange rates while also providing a boost to local production facilities.