The latest on Toyota Camry wait times in Australia

Toyota Australia expects a large percentage of the customers waiting for a current Camry to instead take delivery of the new-generation model revealed in November.

“We’re talking with customers at the moment, and we’re trying to fulfil the current-gen. We’re working through that,” Toyota Australia vice president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley told CarExpert.

“We’ve certainly paused and stopped orders. We’re finding again, a lot of people are already saying they’ll move to the full hybrid new model.

“A lot of those order banks are big fleets and rental companies, so they’re already saying ‘hey, we’re happy to take the new one’.”

The brand closed orders for the staple sedan in October 2023 in the face of what it called “extraordinary demand”.

It has since May 2022 been issuing anyone who orders a car with a long wait time letter warning them the vehicle they’re delivered may be a different spec, at a different price, to what they ordered.

Wait times for the sedan were sitting at more than two years before orders closed, with 90 per cent of customers opting for the hybrid model.

After axing the V6 engine in 2021, Toyota offered just one non-hybrid Camry variant: the base Ascent. The new model will be hybrid-only.

Those seeking a direct alternative to the Camry Hybrid in Australia will struggle.

Hyundai sells the Camry-rivalling Sonata in Australia only in turbocharged N Line guise and doesn’t offer its hybrid powertrain here, while the ageing Mazda 6 has no hybrid option.

Although Toyota offers the Corolla sedan with a hybrid, it’s a much smaller car. The Hyundai i30 sedan will gain a hybrid option in 2024, and slots between the Corolla and Camry size-wise.

MORE: Everything Toyota Camry