The Toyota Camry, despite being knocked by many enthusiasts as soulless and bland, has still managed to outsell every other car on the market. Second on the list is its own sibling, the Corolla. And sales keep going up, so it obviously has a lot going for it. First it wins "Most Popular" award for its sales record and now it has won Motor Trend's Car of the Year for 2007. We'd say it's a shoe-in for Miss Congeniality, too. Motor Trend Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Angus MacKenzie issued a statement that said the award goes to the whole Camry range for its innovation and wide appeal. This is, amazingly enough, the first win for the Camry. It beat 26 other nominees for the title.
The MT COTY awards are reserved for vehicles that are all, or significantly new during the model year. This explains, for instance, why last year's winner, the Honda Civic, wasn't nominated. Looking at the list of competitors, we see 10 Japanese cars, six Americans, five Koreans, four Germans, one Brit and one Swede. A pretty good group of cars, including the Chevrolet Aveo, Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Caliber, Honda Fit, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Entourage, Infiniti G35, Jaguar XK, Jeep Compass, Kia Optima, Kia Rondo, Kia Sedona, Lexus ES 350, Lexus LS 460, Mercedes Benz S-Class, Nissan Altima, Nissan Sentra, Nissan Versa, Porsche Cayman, Saturn Aura, Saturn Sky Redline, Suzuki SX4, Toyota Camry, Toyota Yaris, Volvo C70 T5, Volkswagen EOS, and Volkswagen Rabbit.
Did it deserve the golden calipers? Sound off in the comments.
[Source: MSNBC]
Thanks for the tip, Justin!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Drewboy @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:19PM
You know, usually I'm interested in the COTY. This year, I could only laugh. It feels like a joke.
Sid @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:53PM
Wow. Last year MT gave the new Civic COTY. At that point I was pissed. Now with the Camry as the new COTY, in hindsight, I'd say the Civic made a lot of sense. Atleast it had the Si.
Bascially, MT gives COTY to any car 'range' which has a large number of options (sedan, coupe, hybrid etc). That instantly rules out all sports cars, lol.
yeahright @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:04PM
Grumble all you want, but every OTHER carmaker knows exactly why the Camry deserves the prize.
As for this line:
"The Toyota Camry, despite being knocked by many enthusiasts as soulless and bland, has still managed to outsell every other car on the market."
That strikes me as a non sequitur. In every other product category (from the items on your supermarket shelves to fast food to entertainment and on and on), the top sellers are soulless and bland. Why should cars be any different?
James @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:05PM
I drove the new Camry and wasn't impressed with the lower build quality, noisy tires in turns, and just the overall execution. I would much rather have the Hyundai Azera over the $7k more expensive Camry.
James
nezromatron @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:05PM
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..
Anthony @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:06PM
Motor Trend is such a joke. Toyota basically bought the award with a huge ad buy. Just check out how many Toyota ads are in the issue.
IGB @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:08PM
YAAAAAAWWWWWWWNNNNNN!!!!!
Motor Trend is an enthusiast magazine. This loses them some credibility with their reader base, no matter how you look at it. If it's a broad range they are looking for then cars like the XK should not even be nominated. This will earn them a huge amount of licensing money from Toyota that has money to burn right now but I think will hurt them long term. The COTY was never anything to take seriously but really...
bernie @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:08PM
"Why should cars be any different?"
Why should cars be different than cans of soup or rolls of toilet paper? Talk about no sequiturs. If you even ask that question you either hate cars, work for the Big 2 1/2, or both.
What are you doing in an automobile forum?
iQuack @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:09PM
Next MT COTY will be the all-new, '08 Honda Accord.
You heard it here first!
Harold V. @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:09PM
The Camry is a very good car, but it's not even the best in its class. Drive the new Altima and the new Camry back-to-back and tell me which one is better. Then step back and tell me which one you'd rather be seen in if you're under 70.
I rest my case.
Chris @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:14PM
Let the deluge of recalls begin!
David @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:22PM
What a shame that MT is so biased. Another winner from Japan!. The camdy is a good car, but there have been better. The Saturn Aura or the Sky Red Line deserved to win.
Howard Kerr @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:24PM
Hey, the Vega and the Mustang II were Cars of the Year, too. That right there says how worthless this award is.
yeahright @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:30PM
#14 - And let's not forget about the Dodge Omni!
bernie - Obviously my comment flew over your head. Did I say that cars should be bland? Of course not. I said that bland crap (tasteless burgers, shlock movies, pathetically untalented popstars, moronic TV shows, tacky furniture) typically sells in huge quantities.
jg @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:38PM
They don't even read Motor Trend at the nursing homes and senior centers. How will the old people learn their favorite car, the Gramry has been named car of the year?
What a joke.
bernie @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:39PM
For red white and blue knuckl draggers like David, who accuse M/T of bias towards Japan before even looking it up - here are the COTY results since 1949. Three of the last four have been Japanese (one made in Ohio), but the lion's share have been from Detroit. I'll also add there are many awful cars in here, including Vega, '87 and '02 Thunderbird Omni and Mustang II:
2006 Honda Civic
2005 Chrysler 300C
2004 Toyota Prius
2003 Infiniti G35
2002 Ford Thunderbird
2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser
2000 Lincoln LS
1999 Chrysler 300M
1998 Chevrolet Corvette
1997 Chevrolet Malibu
1996 Dodge Caravan
1995 Chrysler Cirrus
1994 Ford Mustang
1993 Ford Probe GT
1992 Cadillac Seville Touring Sedan
1991 Chevrolet Caprice Classic LTZ
1990 Lincoln Town Car
1989 Ford Thunderbird SC
1988 Pontiac Grand Prix
1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
1986 Ford Taurus LX
1985 Volkswagen GTI
1984 Chevrolet Corvette
1983 AMC / Renault Alliance
1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
1981 Chrysler K Cars, Dodge Aries / Plymouth Reliant
1980 Chevrolet Citation
1979 Buick Riviera S
1978 Chrysler, Dodge Omni / Plymouth Horizon
1977 Chevrolet Caprice
1976 Chrysler, Dodge Aspen / Plymouth Volare
1975 Chevrolet Monza 2+2
1974 Ford Mustang II
1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
1972 Citroën SM
1971 Chevrolet Vega
1970 Ford Torino
1969 Plymouth Road Runner
1968 Pontiac GTO
1967 Mercury Cougar
1966 Oldsmobile Toronado
1965 Pontiac Motor Division
1964 Ford Motor Company (Not for the Mustang)
1963 American MotorsRambler
1962 Buick Special
1961 Pontiac Tempest
1960 Chevrolet Corvair
1959 Pontiac Motor Division
1958 Ford Thunderbird
1957 Chrysler Corporation
1956 Ford Motor Company
1955 Chevrolet Motor Division
1954 No award
1953 No award
1952 Cadillac Motor Division
1951 Chrysler Corporation
1950 No award
1949 Cadillac Motor Division
Michael Karesh @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:40PM
If every Camry was an SE V6, this might make some sense. It's a better driver's car than many enthusiasts think. But the rest of the range...no. The hybrid racks up great mpg stats, but in other ways disappointed me.
http://www.epinions.com/content_223274110596
DeLorenzo wrote a very illuminating rant about COTY not long ago. Back when he was in advertising, MT had everyone detail how they'd advertise a win as part of the process. No idea if they still do this, though he implied as much.
Richard Warren @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:40PM
Good for Toyota, I guess:
The awards, TA-DA!
1949 Cadillac Motor Company
1950 nothing
1951 Chrysler Corp
1952 Cadillac
1953 Nothing
1954 Nothing
1955 Chevrolet Motor Company
1956 Ford Motor Company
1957 Pontiac Motor Division
1958 Ford Thunderbird
1959 Pontiac Motor Division
1960 Corvair
1961 Pontiac Tempest
1962 Buick Special
1963 American Motors Rambler
1964 Ford Motor Company
1965 Pontiac Motor Division
1966 Olds Toronado
1967 Mercury Cougar
1968 Pontiac GTO
1969 Plymouth Road Runner
1970 Ford Torino
1971 Vega
1972 Citroen SM
1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
1974 Ford Mustang II
1975 Chevrolet Monza 2+2
1976 Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare
1977 Chevrolet Caprice
1978 Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon
1979 Buick Rivera S
1980 Chevrolet Citation
1981 Chrysler K Cars
1982 Camaro Z28
1983 AMC Renault Alliance
1984 Corvette
1985 VW GTi
1986 Ford Taurus LX
1987 Ford T-Bird turbo coupe
1988 Pontiac Grand Prix
1989 Ford T-Bird SC
1990 Linclon Town Car
1991 Chevy Caprice LTZ
1992 Seville Touring Sedan
1993 Ford Probe
1994 Ford Mustang
1995 Chrysler Cirrus
1996 Dodge Caravan
1997 Chevy Malibu
1998 Corvette
1999 Chrysler 300
2000 Lincoln LS
2001 PT Cruiser
2002 Ford T-Bird
2003 Infiniti G35
2004 Prius
2005 Chrysler 300
2006 Honda Civic
2007 Camry
Pick up your old MT magazines count up the ads, hmmmmm
advertising dollars? No, couldn't be.
Richard Warren @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:43PM
#17 Beat me, sorry for the double post! You typed faster.
CSmit @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:45PM
Let me get this straight...the new Camry gets the COTY, but the Ford Fusion which can be had for $28K with every option AND ALL WHEEL DRIVE