Competition for Camry in USA - Accord, Altima, Fusion cut into market leader's sales

DETROIT (AP):

America's top-selling car is in danger of losing its title. Toyota's Camry has been number one for more than a decade, but the company is stretching to keep it there with price cuts, rebates, and lease deals.

Camry sales fell two per cent from January through June 2013. Meanwhile, its main rivals in the mid-size car market - the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, and Ford Fusion - posted big gains. The hot-selling Accord trailed Camry in sales by 21,000 at the end of June. Last year at this time, the gap was 59,000.

Toyota has raised discounts and cut the Camry's price in an effort to keep it on top. In early July, the Camry's average sales price was the lowest of the nine top-selling mid-size cars, according to data from JD Power and Associates obtained by The Associated Press. Discounts on the Camry were among the highest in the segment, according to the data.

Old design

Camry has lost style points literally. While the car's ultra-conservative design appeals to many loyal Toyota buyers who favour basic transportation, others are defecting to the sportier Accord, Fusion, and Altima, industry analysts say. Those cars also have more features and better performance, they say.

"Although the Camry is not that old, it certainly seems older than the rest," said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst for the Edmunds.com automotive website. She says Toyota needs to hold on to Camry's market share because it is the mainstay for the brand in the United States, Toyota's largest market.

Through June, Toyota sold 207,626 Camrys. But Accord sales rose 21 per cent during the same period to 186,860. Altima sales gained nearly eight per cent to 167,787, while Fusion sales rose nearly 19 per cent to 161,146. Since January, the Camry's share of the mid-size car market has fallen by 1.6 percentage points to 12.6 per cent, according to Ward's Automotive. During the same period, the Accord gained 0.5 points to reach 11.2 per cent.

To combat the falling sales and market share, Toyota has lowered the Camry's price. The Camry on average sold for just over US$20,900 in early July, about US$1,400 below the price from a year ago, according to the JD Power data. Discounts such as low-interest loans and sweet lease deals totalled nearly US$3,100 per Camry, up almost US$1,900 from July of last year and among the highest in the market, according to the data.

Honda rising

The Accord is rolling off dealer lots, even though it sells for roughly US$2,600 more than the Camry for an average of US$23,500. That includes discounts of only US$1,300 per car, the lowest in the market.

The Camry used to sell with few discounts, but its average price is typically among the lowest in the segment, Caldwell said. That is likely because Camry buyers view cars as simple transportation and don't often load them up with expensive features, she said.

Toyota is happy with the Camry's top position in the market, and it will continue to promote the car's quality and reliability, said spokeswoman Carly Schaffner.

Toyota normally sells more than 30,000 of the cars per month, and sales nearly hit 40,000 in May, Schaffner said.

She wouldn't comment on when a revamped Camry might come out, but said Toyota president, Akio Toyoda, has been emphasising stylish design and fun-to-drive cars in the company's recent models, such as the Avalon full-size car and the Corolla compact that is due out this fall.

The Camry may also be losing sales to newer Toyota vehicles such as the popular RAV4 small cross-over SUV and the Avalon, both of which are newer and more stylish, said John McEleney, who operates Toyota and General Motors dealerships in Clinton, Iowa, near the Mississippi River.