AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION of the Camry Hybrid isn’t scheduled to begin until early next year, but petrol-electric Camrys are already being churned out at Toyota’s Chachoengsao plant in Thailand.
Destined to be sold throughout the South-East Asia region, the Thai-built Camry Hybrids wear the same headlights, tailights and sheetmetal used by the Aurion, although under the skin they’re virtually identical to the Aussie-market Camry.
Power is supplied by the same 109kW 2.4 litre Atkinson-cycle inline four and 30kW electric motor that powers the Japanese and US-market Camry Hybrids, which is the same powertrain that will be offered in the Australian-built cars.
Our Camry Hybrids will carry the distinction of being the first locally-built hybrid vehicles, and should offer a sound alternative to the soon-to-be-launched 2010 Prius.
