The Toyota Camry is a wildly popular sedan in a world that has passed sedans by. It’s been America’s best-selling sedan almost every year since the late 1990s. It’s the only old-fashioned car in the list of the top 10 best-selling vehicles in America, somehow holding on despite the immense popularity of SUVs.
Redesigning it must feel like holding narrowly to a lead with a hundred dogged pursuers on your tail. And yet, that’s just what Toyota designers have done for 2025. It’s too early to tell, but it looks as if they may have managed the trick.
Toyota unveiled an all-new Camry tonight. The ninth generation of America’s favorite 4-door sedan is nothing earthshaking. Instead, it’s an evolutionary update taking advantage of new technologies without offering anything longtime fans don’t expect.
The Best-Selling Sedan Goes Hybrid-Only
How do you keep a sedan relevant into the late 2020s? With hybrid power. Buyers will no longer have to debate between the Camry and Camry Hybrid for the car’s ninth generation. Every Camry will carry both a gasoline engine and an electric motor.
Front-wheel-drive (FWD) models pair a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine with two electric motors for a combined 225 horsepower. That beats the 203 minimum in the last model.
But those looking for more can upgrade to all-wheel drive (AWD), which comes with 232 horsepower. And buyers will no longer have to move up to higher trim levels to get AWD; it will be available on even the least-expensive trims, Toyota says.
There seems to be no higher-power option. 2024 Camry buyers can opt for a 301-horsepower V6, but the 2025 model offers nothing above 232. Instead, Toyota says, engineers have tuned the hybrid system to produce more power at lower speeds, providing “satisfying acceleration and torque feel” without lowering fuel efficiency.
Press materials don’t mention a gearbox, but a Toyota spokesperson tells us every model uses an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission.
Evolutionary Look
If you’ve seen the 2024 Camry and the latest Toyota Prius, you could likely sketch the 2025 Camry.
In profile, the next-generation Camry looks enough like the current model that we’re tempted to say little has changed.
But from head-on, that’s not the case. It borrows the thin-slit headlights and mechanical grin of the latest Prius as if to emphasize that this model inherits its hybrid nature. What we’d normally call the grille is just a wide, thin smile between the headlights. A large chainlink chin beneath takes over much of the responsibility for airflow.
The rear angle has some Lexus-like styling folds that tuck in above the bumper and the C-A-M-R-Y name wide across the trunk.
It looks good in two-tone paint jobs, so almost all of the photos Toyota has provided so far wear that look.
“Open-Concept” Cabin
Toyota calls the interior “open-concept,” as if the kitchen flows into the dining area. But this is still a gas-powered car, so it’s not as open as most of today’s electric vehicles. A transmission tunnel still divides the cabin.
But designers have used interesting colors and shapes to give it a modern feel. The long armrest between the front seats comes in black, even with tan upholstery, visually reducing its impact. The center console includes a vertical strut only on the passenger’s side, giving the driver better access to what is presumably a phone charging pad.
The driver faces a 7-inch digital gauge cluster on LE and SE models, while XLE and XSE buyers get a full 12.3-inch driver’s screen. The latter two are available with a head-up display as well. The sport-themed XSE trim retains its dramatic interior color choices for the 2025 model year – Cockpit Red or Black with blue-lined perforations.
The central touchscreen is 8 inches in less expensive models and 12.3 inches on higher trims. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, as is Qi wireless device charging.
Some Technology Moves to Subscription
Voice controls are available as part of a Drive Connect subscription. “Simple phrases like ‘Hey Toyota’ awaken the system,” Toyota says, “for voice-activated commands to search for directions, find points of interest, adjust audio controls, change the cabin temperatures, and more.”
Toyota hasn’t disclosed subscription prices.
Available automated driver assists include Toyota’s Traffic Jam Assist system, which can accelerate, brake, and steer the car to hold its position in traffic below 25 mph.
There’s nothing revolutionary about the ninth-generation Camry. It looks like a natural continuation of the Camry line, adapts a few interior trends of the early EV era without going electric, and offers the added fuel economy of hybrid power for every buyer. It borrows a little styling from the Prius without confusing anyone about what car they’re looking at.
All of which is just right. When you’re leading the race, your job is just to avoid mistakes.
The 2025 Camry seems to make no mistakes. That’s probably enough to make it the right answer for a few hundred thousand buyers a year well into the next decade.
