All of the New 2018 Toyota Camrys Sold in America in July Were Japan Imports

by Timothy Cain

Published: August 2nd, 2017

all of the new 2018 toyota camrys sold in america in july were japan imports

We learned early in July that many of the early 2018 Toyota Camrys available in Toyota’s U.S. showrooms wouldn’t be built in Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky, assembly plant.

Through June, not a single one of the 2016 and 2017 Camrys sold in America were imported. But all of the 2018 Toyota Camrys sold in July came across the Pacific from Japan.

Granted, most of the Camrys leaving Toyota showrooms are still old new Camrys, not new new Camrys.

The reason for Kentucky’s delay? Transitioning to an assembly line that runs the Toyota New Global Architecture requires “a couple steps back before it can move forward in efficiency.” Despite added workforce — Georgetown has more employees now than ever before — ramping up production in Kentucky was never intended to be an instantaneous action.

So after noticing in Toyota’s monthly sales report that Toyota sold 33,827 total Camrys but only 31,230 North American-built Camrys, we wanted to know where the 2017/2018 line was drawn.

“All 2018 Camry’s sold in July were imported from Japan,” Toyota spokesperson Sam Butto tells TTAC.

Without those new Japanese imports, the Toyota Camry was still America’s best-selling midsize car in July. (The Honda Civic was America’s top-selling car overall last month.) But rather than a modest 1-percent downturn, Camry volume would have fallen 9 percent. Instead, the first 2,587 copies of the all-new 2018 Toyota Camry accounted for 8 percent of the Camrys sold in the United States in July.

In total, the Toyota/Lexus family has relied upon non-NAFTA vehicles for 28 percent of the 1,377,222 U.S. auto sales the company’s generated in the first seven months of 2017. Toyota does, however, build more Camrys in the U.S. than any other vehicle.

Through the end of July, the Camry trails the Honda Civic by 1,722 sales in the Toyota’s quest to end 2017 as America’s top-selling car for a 16th consecutive year. Of the 212,446 Civics sold so far in 2017, 44,737 have been England-built hatchbacks.

Meanwhile, Toyota’s Butto says, “As soon as our Kentucky plant finishes ramping up for the 2018 model, all 2018 Camry’s will be manufactured here for the U.S. market.”

[Image: Toyota]

Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars.

#2017ToyotaCamry #2018ToyotaCamry #Camry #Georgetown #Japan #JDM #Kentucky #MidsizeCarSales #MidsizeCars #MidsizeSedans #Toyota #U.S.AutoSales #ToyotaKentucky

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6 of 28 comments

SoCalMikester on Aug 02, 2017

gimme a J vin any time. as for the orange peel? seems to me the germans are wurst at it.

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Big Al from Oz on Aug 03, 2017

I'll be! The US isn't competitive in the auto business! Australia Camry production moved to Japan as well. This is a good idea by Toyota. The consumer will get a better and cheaper product.

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- Gtem on Aug 03, 2017
  
  What a mindless comment Al. The Lexington plant is as I understand it Toyota's single biggest plant outside of Japan. Here in Indiana Subaru is expanding production by starting up an Impreza line along with the upcoming Ascent. The Greensburg Honda plant added the new CRV in addition to cranking out the new Civic. Toyota in Princeton makes all the Siennas and Highlanders. Just because Australia's auto manufacturing is in the dumps, no need to project.
  
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- Redapple on Aug 03, 2017
  
  @gtem Need to be careful with Subaru Lafayette numbers. That plant made Camrys for Toyota. Camry got kicked out so Subie could increase production of Subie vehicles. Been in that plant many times. Great staff, except that one buyer.
  
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- Big Al from Oz on Aug 03, 2017
  
  gtemnykh, That has little to do with my comment. Australia has some of the largest (in US speak, greatest, mostest, biggest, upsizest, etc) mines in the world, but that doesn't mean they are raking in the cash (profits). gte, you seem to have caught the "US" disease, morest, biggest, upsizest, mostest ........ but sometimes lacking quality. This doesn't make the "bestest". There is a difference between greatest and best. Also, how much support do the manufacturers receive to keep them viable in the US? This is the most significant aspect of vehicle manufacturing in the US. It's good and well to make statements regarding size or whatever, but peel back the veneer to find out what really is keeping things going. From what I can gather, the US vehicle industry is heavily reliant on protection and handouts. I speculate that when EVs become more mainstream you will find out which countries can manufacture without subsidies or the least subsidies. I remember when TVs, computers and fridges were manufactured in Australia, but they became uncompetitive. It's been a long time since the US was truly the best option for vehicle manufacturing. Pre WWII very little went into the US auto industry and yet who ever worked earned a middle class living (for that period). As competition rises, industry will move down to countries better able to compete. In 2013 each vehicle manufactured in the US cost the taxpayer over $3 000 in subsidies. This doesn't even count the barriers in place regarding trade. So how much extra money could the average American have to better spend elsewhere in the economy if these forms of protection and subsidisation were not in place? The problem is it will take the US several decades to fix up it's auto industry. The longer it keeps on going to harder it will be to rectify.
  
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- Gtem on Aug 03, 2017
  
  @Big Al from Oz A long winded diatribe that really doesn't say anything. Foreign transplants move to the US and bring with them a ton of suppliers that they localize. They flourish here and expand. What's not to understand about that? Okay so the US made products aren't quite Tahara-made Land Cruisers in terms of quality (then again the Tahara-made 4Runner we get in the US has the same lousy paint as a Lexington Camry). Doesn't take away from the fact that business is doing well, Toyota is massively profitable in the US, and not just because of some sort of subsidies or some kind of tariff conspiracy of yours.
  
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