Toyota takes 2025 Camry to new level
America’s bestselling car is in for some of its biggest changes ever when the 2025 Toyota Camry goes on sale late this spring.
The king of the midsize sedans now offers dramatic styling and an all-hybrid lineup. A fuel-efficient and engaging allwheel-drive system is available on all trim levels.
As it enters its ninth generation, the family car long derided as an appliance has developed a wild side.
The Camry competes with midsize sedans like the Chevrolet Malibu, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Nissan Altima and VW Passat.
Camry prices start at $28,400.
Amazing fuel efficiency
Toyota has been criticized for its slow rollout of electric vehicles. The shift to a 100% hybrid lineup is a landmark moment. The least fuel efficient version gets 43 mpg in mixed highway and city driving, according to EPA estimates.
The most popular models rate 46 or 47 mpg in city/highway driving for front- or all-wheel-drive models, respectively.
Hybrids accounted for 20% of the 290,649 Camrys that Toyota sold in the U.S. last year.
This move will have a big impact on fuel consumption, emissions and owners’ fuel costs.
The Camry is the first vehicle to team the latest version of Toyota’s hybrid system – now in its fifth generation – with a 2.5L engine. That fifth-generation hybrid system is also used with a 2.0L engine in the current Prius, which won the 2024 North American Car of the Year award.
The front-wheel-drive Camry develops 225 horsepower. The AWD’s total system output is 232 hp, thanks to an electric rear axle.
That axle produces more than the seven-horsepower net difference, but the system’s controls monitor output
Trim levels and prices
LE FWD: $28,400 SE FWD: $30,700 XLE FWD: $33,400 XSE FWD: $34,600 SE AWD: $32,225 SLE AWD: $34,925 XSE AWD: $36,125 from both sources to deliver smooth, manageable power.
A continuously variable automatic transmission is standard.
Driving impressions
From a distance, the 2025 Camry’s profile is familiar, but the closer you get, the more the new model departs from the comfortable formula.
The nose adopts Toyota’s new “hammerhead” look, with a deep grille below a narrow line connecting slim LED headlights that wrap into the fenders.
The hood is long and low, flowing into a fast windshield. The rear deck is short, despite the Camry’s accommodating 15.1-cubic-foot trunk. Sharp creases run along the doors and fenders. The aggressive yet practical design makes a strong bid to be the best-looking midsize sedan.
I drove a Camry AWD from Coronado Island in San Diego Bay through city streets, highways and twisting hillside roads inland to the border crossing at Tecate. I also drove a FWD Camry more briefly.
The AWD has a much sportier character, despite only offering seven more horsepower.
The steering is direct and responsive. SE and XSE models get unique shocks and a bigger stabilizer bar for improved handling and stability. Toyota developed a new brake system to improve pedal feel during regeneration.
Room, comfort and controls
The five-passenger interior is comfortable and quiet. There’s plenty of head, leg and shoulder room. Fabric and leather seats are available.
The top models get a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 12.3-inch touch screen.
Lower trims make do with a 7-inch cluster and 8-inch touch screen.
The controls are easy to use and include Toyota’s digital assistant for connected navigation and other services. Push-button start, wireless charging and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard.
Available interior features include a 10-inch head-up display, heated and ventilated front seats and an app to use your phone as a key.
Why get one?
The Camry has been America’s bestselling car for 22 years and the end is nowhere in sight. The 2025 model delivers outstanding fuel economy and satisfying performance. Its dramatic new looks make the days when cynics compared it to a loaf of Wonder bread seem very long ago indeed.
Roomy, comfortable, efficient and advanced, the 2025 Toyota Camry remains definitively the family sedan to beat.